Editor's note: This game story expands upon News Tribune coverage posted on Saturday.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Like most teams at the beginning of the softball season, the Fatima Lady Comets made it a goal to win a state title.
Unlike all but three other teams, mission accomplished.
Fatima tallied 18 hits and Leah Kesel went the distance in the circle to lead the Lady Comets to a 16-3 win Saturday against Pleasant Hope in the Class 2 state championship game at the Killian Softball Complex.
"They came in wanting it," Fatima head coach Dana Scheppers said. "There is a difference between wanting it and having the drive - and these girls had both. They wanted it, and they had the drive to do it.
"These girls deserve every bit of it."
It is Fatima's fourth state championship in softball, its first since 1996, when the Lady Comets claimed a 4-2 victory against O'Hara. Almost all of the players on this year's team hadn't been born when that team won it all.
"It's been 18 years since we've had a state title," Scheppers said. "It's nice that these girls can get in on all the success Fatima has had recently. They're a great group of girls, and a very, very talented group."
The motivation might have been higher for the Fatima seniors. The group of six knew what it felt like to miss out on the Final Four by falling in the quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012 and then losing in a district championship game last season.
"It's everything we worked for, so it feels great," Christine Brunnert said. "We've been wanting to do this since we were freshmen."
The way in which the Lady Comets acheived their goal made the victory even more special. Every batter in Fatima's lineup contributed to Saturday's win with a hit, RBI or run.
Kesel allowed seven hits, struck out seven and didn't issue a walk in going the distance. She also drove in two runs at the plate.
"It's awesome," Kesel said. "I can't even explain it. We've been working on this for four years now."
Sammey Bunch was 5-for-5 with two RBI and Morgan Brandt hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to lead the offensive attack for the Lady Comets (22-7).
"Putting up 16 runs in the state title game is awesome," Bunch said. "It's such a great feeling. Not everyone gets to experience this."
Brunnert had three hits and drove in two runs, while Kesel, Erica Fick, Kate Massman and Makayla Buscher all tallied two hits and one RBI. Michelle Barnhart and Erica Fick both chipped in with a hit and an RBI, while Kristen Boeckmann came around to score three times to lead the team in that department.
"Everybody contributed," Scheppers said. "When we hit up and down our lineup, we're unstoppable. And we proved it today."
Things didn't exactly go Fatima's way in the beginning of the contest.
The Lady Comets failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the first, and Pleasant Hope used a two-run home run in the bottom of the frame to take the early lead.
"That was only the first inning," Bunch said. "We still had six to go, so we did what we always do - we came back and fought. "
Brunnert hit a one-out double in the top of the second and Kesel followed with an RBI single to bring Fatima within one. Barnhart singled and Bunch hit a RBI single that brought in two runs after the ball went through the right fielder's legs to give the Lady Comets a 3-2 lead.
Fatima extended its lead to two when Bunch scored on a wild pitch with two outs and the Lady Comets didn't look back.
"We've been doing it all year," Brunnert said. "It's nothing new for us. We can come from behind. We never give up."
Brunnert hit a two-run single, Bunch drove in a run and Fatima took advantage of an error - the second of five committed by Pleasant Hope - to score four more in the top of the third.
Kori Hillenburg brought the Lady Pirates (23-7) within five with a solo home run, but Kesel only allowed three hits the rest of the way.
"For our girls not to get down and come back and just explode - it's amazing," Scheppers said. "We've been down before, and these girls don't die. They wanted it, and they didn't give up."
Fick and Massman both drove in a run in the fourth and Buscher hit an RBI single in the sixth to extend Fatima's lead to nine. Pleasant Hope committed an error in both innings to help account for the Lady Comets' success on the offensive end.
"It might not have been a very close game, but it felt like it," Brunnert said. "We just wanted to keep scoring. Everybody wanted to bat each inning."
Brandt was swarmed by teammates after hitting the home run to left field before Brunnert capped the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
The bottom half of the inning was an easy one for Kesel.
"I know my teammates are always there to support me - even more so when they put up 16 runs," she said. "It makes me feel like I don't have to be perfect."