With just under 2 weeks remaining in the regular season, Mexico High School softball girls are hoping for a better end than start to their current campaign.
The Lady Bulldogs have prevailed in 2 of their last 4 varsity contests, including Game 1 of Tuesday’s NCMC doubleheader at Gallop Field. Mexico won that game 11-7 for their third victory in a dozen outings, but dropped Game 2 by an 8-2 margin.
“The first game against Hannibal, we never gave up,” MHS coach Christina Gerber said. “There for a while Hannibal held the lead, but we started adjusting at the plate and hit the ball hard.”
The Lady Pirates posted a run in the second, 3 in the third and 3 in the fourth against Mexico pitcher Courtney Fischer, but the Lady Bulldogs countered with a run in the first, 3 in the third and 7 in the sixth.
Mexico’s biggest outburst started when Vanessa Hays led off with a single. Mackenzie Mudd was hit by pitch and Callie Bracht doubled in Hays. Fischer then singled, scoring Mudd, Whitney Whittaker singled and Liz Crews hit a double to score both courtesy runner Paislee House and Bracht.
Kayla Winterbower followed with a single and Delaney McNeil delivered an RBI, but was thrown out at first.
“Our defense held strong and we came out with a win. It was fun to watch us come back and not give up,” the MHS coach noted. “We didn’t win the second game, but we still played well.”
The Lady Bulldogs opened their scoring in the first with Bracht getting hit by a pitch and advancing to second on a passed ball. Whittaker moved her to third and Crews singled her home.
In the Mexico third, Mudd led off with a single. Bracht also singled and Whittaker singled to drive in Mudd. Winterbower singled home Bracht and McNeil singled in Whittaker.
The nightcap saw Dana Lichtenberger take the mound for Mexico with Heather Elder and Fischer finishing up. Hannibal scored 5 runs in the first, 1 in the second and 2 in the third.
The Lady Bulldogs did all their scoring in the fourth inning. Crews led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Danielle Ingrum moved her to third while being thrown out at first.
Miranda Wells then drew a walk and Kelsey Creed put the ball in play to score Crews. Wells also scored in the inning.
Mexico plays V/JV games today at NCMC rival Moberly, then competes Saturday in the Centralia Invitational. After a Monday trip to Boonville, 3 home games are scheduled for next week, Tuesday vs. Rock Bridge, Wednesday vs. Marshall and Thursday vs. Fulton.
The Lady Bulldogs end the regular season in the Oct. 4 Bowling Green Invitational. Then comes the Class 3/District 8 tournament in Mexico; Kirksville is the No. 1 seed and Bowling Green is No. 2, followed in order by Warrenton, Moberly, Mexico and Montgomery County. The Lady Bulldogs will play Moberly at 5 p.m. Oct. 7 with the semifinals set for Oct. 8 and the finals for Oct. 11.

CENTRALIA SOFTBALL: Wednesday at Huntsville, the Lady Panthers knocked off Westran 3-1 behind the 2-hit pitching of Amber Duncan, who fanned 6 and walked 2 .
A Felicia McCann single, a Jennifer Mills triple and a Mallory Henry single gave Centralia 2 runs in the second. Westran posted an unearned run in the bottom of the inning and the Lady Panthers completed the scoring with a Jordyn Tolliver double to start the third, a sacrifice and a passed ball. Henry and Tolliver each had 2 of 13-1 Centralia’s 9 hits.

SBS CROSS COUNTRY: St. Brendan runners brought home 4 medals from Wednesday’s Southern Boone Invitational at Ashland.
For the fourth-place Irish, Sean Kelly medaled in fifth place in 10:03 and Mathias Whitworth medaled in 18th place in 11:17. Gib Graham ran 12:46 for 34th, Bradley Muckerman 13:59 for 37th and Neil Hopkins 14:23 for 39th.
Both Lady Irish runners medaled. Kaitlin Orr ran 12:44 for 12th place and Beth Jennings 13:18 for 16th.