With a district trophy in tow, the Cassville softball team is working its way through this season with solid pitching, and the Lady Wildcats have five Big 8 bouts left before the postseason comes calling.
Jordan Savage, Cassville softball coach, said the Lady Wildcats (10-8) have had a good season, despite letting a few games go to their opponents.
“The girls are staying up even when it’s tough, when we have bad games or good games,” he said. “We’ve taken some tough losses to teams we feel we should have beat. That’s our kryptonite right now is losing to teams we shouldn’t lose to.
“But, we’ve played some good softball teams. We took a tough loss to Carthage, which is a good team we took to [extra innings], and we took Republic to the end and lost in a walk-off.”
Savage said the 2-1 loss to Seneca on the road was a tough one to swallow, but the squad was encouraged by a pair of wins over Aurora, 7-2 in conference action and 7-0 as part of a 3-2 showing in the Branson Festival over the weekend.
At just over .500, the Lady Wildcats’ wins and losses have been balanced, not more than three straight of either this season.
“We are 2-2 in conference play and right in the middle of the pack,” Savage said. “Nevada is at the top, and we got them at the start of the season in Morrisville, 7-1, but they got us in conference play in Nevada, 3-0.”
The Lady Tigers come to Cassville Thursday, and four of the final five regular-season games after that are big 8 opponents, Seneca at home, Monett away, and Aurora and McDonald County at home.
“We just have to keep playing good softball and throwing strikes in the circle,” Savage said. “Pitching has been a strength for us, and if our bats come on at the right time, we’ll be alright.
“Seneca and Monett are great teams, and we played Monett tight [at home on Sept. 17, winning 4-2]. We hope to have some better offensive performances and to put the ball in play a little more.”
Savage hopes the bats are primed for the Class 3, District 6 tournament, which will be held in Cassville.
“The girls are excited to defend the district title on their home turf,” Savage said. “It’s nice to have that advantage, but we know anything can happen at the end of the year.”
The district includes Nevada, Seneca, Aurora, Holden, Clinton, Logan-Rogersville and Harrisonville.
“Nevada may be our biggest competition,” Savage said. “They are a good team with lots of returners. We played Lee’s Summitt, which is the only team we have in common with Holden, and we both got the same result, a 5-4 loss.”
Cassville is in action against Nevada on Thursday, with first pitch set for 4:30 p.m. Senior night is against Aurora on Oct. 8.
