JACKSON — The Saxony Lutheran Lady Crusaders may have ended their season a bit early, but at least they lost to a team that played in the Class 3 state championship game.
The Lady Crusaders (16- 7), who eliminated Perryville from the Class 3, District 1 tournament with a 5-1 victory on Oct. 16, were feeling good about their chances in the semifinal round. Eventual state runner-up Doniphan (21-10) had other ideas, as the Donettes delivered the Lady Crusaders an 11-4 loss.
After three more victories, Doniphan faced Chillicothe in the Class 3 state championship, losing 1-0.
Saxony coach Mark Lewis said he wasn’t surprised Doniphan had a deep run.
“The big thing was for us, we couldn’t shut their offense down,” Lewis said. “We threw all three of our pitchers during that game. They’ve got a good offense, and they kept coming at us. They got up on us 5-1, 6-1 and probably 8-1. We made a little comeback and scored 3 runs there in the fifth to make it 8-4. But then, here they come back.”
Freshman Madilynn Hager got the start in the circle for Saxony, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits in 1 1/3 innings. Freshman Natlie Brown worked 3 1/3 innings in relief, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits, and Mabrie Barke, also a freshman, worked 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit. Doniphan finished with 11 runs on 14 hits.
“We really needed to get to a point where we could shut them down,” Lewis said. “We needed to shut them down, and we just couldn’t. They’ve got a good ball club. You’ve got to give them credit. They hit the ball well. They hit in good situations. It’s nothing to hang your head about. They beat us. It’s one of those things where they were the better team, no doubt.”
As for the rest of the season, Lewis had much more positive things to say.
“We had an outstanding season,” Lewis said. “We were 16-6 last year when we won the district title. We lost seven seniors, and we replaced them with several freshmen. I think we have 12 freshmen. And we ended up 16-7. That’s an amazing accomplishment out of these ladies, and I was very thrilled with them.”
Hager finished 8-3 with 11 starts in the circle for Saxony Lutheran, while Brown was 5-3 and Barke was 3-0. At the plate, Ansley Palish led the way with a .479 batting average, with 34 hits, including 8 doubles, 4 triples and 2 home runs. She recorded 32 RBI on the season. Onna Boland, one of three St. Vincent students playing for Saxony, finished the season with a .436 average 24 hits, including 6 doubles, a triple and 23 RBI.
“An excellent season,” Lewis said. “When we came into the year, we had several new players, we replaced our third baseman, we had a new shortstop, we had a new first baseman. We had a new left fielder. We had new centerfielders. So you’re talking about a lot of different moving parts and to be able to come out and have a similar record to one of the best teams that we’ve had at Saxony — for me — ever is really good.”
One good thing about having so many new players, Lewis said, is that next season, most of them will still be around, while the number of outgoing seniors will be small.
“It’s always sad that you lose some of the girls,” Lewis said. “We’re losing two seniors and two good ones. [St. Vincent senior] Jenna Unterreiner, our catcher, has been here for two years as the starter at the catching position. And then the other one is right fielder Bridget Wilson, a two-year starter. Both of them played on that championship club last year. It’s always hard when you lose good players. They’ll be missed greatly, not just their abilities, but for their knowledge and leadership, especially Jenna behind the plate, as much as she dealt with these young pitchers that we had.”
