Community R-6 is figuring out how to win the close games.

The Lady Trojans finished fourth in Saturday’s Paris Tournament after beating district foe Canton 9-3 and then losing to Paris 3-1 and district foe North Shelby 8-1. The Paris game was Community’s sixth game with a margin of two runs or fewer in two weeks, and it went 2-4 in those games.

Head coach Jeff Angel said playing a closer game against undefeated Paris after losing 12-3 to the same team earlier in the season shows Community (9-16) “cleaned it up.” However, Angel said there were a couple mental defensive breakdowns that contributed to the Lady Trojans losing the 1-0 lead they had through four innings. He said Community has shown to be capable of winning a 5-4 game against Class 3 Moberly but has to minimize mistakes to be on the winning end. 

Community R-6 at Paris Tournament Photo Gallery

“We would like to have them back, but we still competed,” Angel said. “If you look at our strength of schedule, we’re playing Russellville, Marceline (twice), North Callaway, North Shelby and Paris (twice). Every night seems like we’re up against a wall, playing really good sound teams. You want to play good teams to get better.”

Community began the day with a 9-3 victory over Canton (7-11) after tallying 14 hits. Kaytlynn Arens went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Jocelyn Curtis was 3-for-3 with two RBIs while allowing no earned runs in five innings with five strikeouts. The Lady Trojans allowed two unearned runs against Paris (15-0), and three unearned runs against North Shelby (13-2). 

Myla Carroll pitched six innings against Paris while allowing five hits and no walks. Carroll has given Community opportunities to win like in her seven-inning win over Moberly during the previous weekend’s tournament in Cairo. The Lady Trojans had one error and no unearned runs in that game.

“Myla has thrown several good games where we broke down defensively,” Angel said. “She gave up just a handful of hits here and there and we lost the game by one or two runs. You can’t ask any more from a kid like that. She’ll be very valuable next year and the year after that with her arm and experience.”

Curtis was 2-for-4 with one RBI and a double against Paris, and Peyton Schafer finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a double. Angel said Community “hit the ball pretty well” and regularly put the ball in play.

The North Shelby score was more lopsided but became that way because of a four-run third inning that erased Community’s brief 1-0 lead. Two errors and a dropped third strike allowed four runs to score with two outs. Clara Uhlmeyer made it tough for Community already with 12 strikeouts and two hits allowed.

“We had some breakdowns on some plays we’ve got to make,” Angel said. “They’re plays we can get better at and plays we’ve got to make because you have a team that is ranked in Class 1 and is probably the No. 1 seed in our districts. You can’t give them extra outs.”

Community has three games scheduled this week, including at Van-Far (4-11) at 5 p.m. today, after picking up three wins at New Franklin 9-7, Madison 13-0 and Canton in the Paris Tournament.

“Through the week, we won three in a row,” Angel said. “We did a better job of hitting the ball and putting the ball in play. Defensively, we did a really good job. We’re getting a lot better than we were in the first part of the season.”