WARDSVILLE, Mo. - At times throughout the season, the Blair Oaks softball team has relied on its depth to make contributions and help win games.
But Tuesday at the Falcon Athletic Complex against Southern Boone, with a shot at clinching at least a share of the Tri-County Conference title on the line, its veterans stepped up in a 4-1 win.
Senior pitcher Makenna Kliethermes broke the 100-pitch mark a night after throwing a no-hitter against Hickman to earn the win in the circle for the Lady Falcons (17-4, 6-0 Tri-County). Brooke Boessen doubled three times, scored once and drove in two runs, Kaitlyn Kolb had two hits, an RBI and scored once and Natalie Otto had a hit, a walk and an RBI.
"At this point in the season, we're in the middle of a long stretch, and a lot of teams are," Blair Oaks coach Sharon Buschjost said, "so I felt like it was a game where the energy level was not quite where it has been, but yet we kept our focus and played a good game and got the win."
Tuesday's win marked the eighth straight conference title for Blair Oaks under Buschjost and the 22nd in the last 23 years for the program.
Kliethermes allowed an unearned run on six hits, walked two and struck out 13 against a Lady Eagles squad that also entered the game undefeated in conference play and forced Kliethermes to attack the strike zone. Apart from one rough patch, she went at hitters with a mix of heat they had trouble catching up to and off-speed they couldn't slow down for.
Most of that damage was done against the bottom three hitters of Southern Boone's order, which went a collective 1-for-8 with a single, a walk and seven strikeouts. Kliethermes struck out the side in the fifth and seventh against the Lady Eagles' 7-through-9 hitters, all three swinging to close out the game.
"She can step it up to the next level quickly," Buschjost said. "She's coming off a no-hitter against Hickman (Monday) night where she dominated some very good batters. And then tonight, that's why I'm very complimentary of Southern Boone to battle the way they did and put the ball in play. I think it was credit to their focus at the plate and working on getting the ball in play."
Both teams started the game ready to go. Lady Eagles' pitcher Camryn Schaller started the game with a double, but Kliethermes struck out the next two batters and induced a fly-out to left to end the threat.
Ellie Kliethermes started the home first with a single, and Bailey Rissmiller scored as a courtesy runner on the first of Boessen's doubles. Boessen scored on a one-out single by Kolb before Kolb came home on a single by Otto to give Makenna Kliethermes a three-run lead to work with after one inning.
Rissmiller scored on another Boessen double in the fourth after Ellie Kliethermes singled and advanced on an error.
Blair Oaks made the most of the few scoring opportunities they created in the game, and though they got runners to third in both the second and third innings, those chances came with two outs.
Meanwhile Makenna Kliethermes and the Lady Falcon defense went about minimizing their opponent's scoring opportunities. Her sister Ellie caught a runner stealing in the second inning, and Southern Boone got just two runners past second base, and both of those came in the sixth inning. Back-to-back one-out singles and the Lady Eagles' second walk of the game loaded the bases, and Southern Boone's lone run came from a pitch that got away from the catcher.
Boessen made a good defensive play charging in on a fly ball for the second out and Kliethermes struck out her 10th batter to end the inning and strand two runners in scoring position.
"I liked what I saw from the girls," Buschjost said. "I acknowledged to them after the game about our energy level, but at the same time it's not like - I wasn't disappointed in their effort, I thought we maintained our focus, and usually players are all about playing games, playing games, but everyone on this team is very much ready for two days of practice."
Blair Oaks plays Friday and Saturday in the Carthage Tournament. The Lady Falcons play at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Joplin, and will play either Life Prep or Carthage at 7:15 p.m. in the next game.
Blair Oaks finishes the regular season Monday at Boonville, a new addition to the Tri-County Conference.
District play starts Wednesday. Buschjost said she hopes to go to the bench a little in the tournament to help rest up and get players fully healthy for the postseason.
In the JV game, Blair Oaks (14-2) won 12-0 in five innings. Andi Siebeneck hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs and Madison Boessen had a home run and drove in two runs. Jazmin Reinkemeyer and Mackenze Prenger both had two hits.
Kaitlyn Luebbering was the winning pitcher, striking out eight on three hits.