Community R-6 will eventually be playing more high-pressure games as the postseason approaches.

Community R-6 vs Salisbury Photo Gallery

To thrive in that setting, the Lady Trojans need to apply more pressure with their offense as shown by their runner-up result in the Paris Tournament on Saturday. The Class 1 No. 6 Community led 5-3 in the fifth inning against Salisbury, who received votes in the Class 2 state poll, but then allowed five runs in that same inning. In matchups against district opponents, Community had an 11-3 win over Canton and a 5-4 win over host Paris.

Head coach Kendra Murphy said the lack of offensive pressure started during the semifinal game against district foe Paris, which is the third meeting between the schools this season. Community (16-6) defeated the Lady Coyotes for the second time but had to cling to a lead after scoring all five of its runs in the first two innings. 

“We scored early and then quit scoring,” Murphy said. “That can’t happen. We talked about it after the second game and saw it happen again in the last game.” 

Community had another down defensive day, committing seven errors against Paris but managed to not break. The Lady Trojans followed that with seven errors against Salisbury, and the Lady Panthers made them pay.

Jocelyn Curtis allowed two earned runs on four hits in five innings against Canton and three earned runs on 10 hits against Salisbury. Curtis pitched with traffic on the bases in just about every inning against Salisbury.

“We let them get runners on, and they were then hitting the ball to the gap,” Murphy said. “Paris wasn’t doing that. With Paris, we got their leadoff batter out every time except for the last inning.”

Four of Community’s runs were scored in the first inning against Salisbury, including via a two-RBI single by Lydia Hoyt. Curtis added a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

“Somewhere in there, we forgot what our game plan was at the plate,” Murphy said. “We weren’t being aggressive enough early in the count. Because of that, we were hitting a pitch that we didn’t necessarily want to hit.”

Salisbury was held at bay through the first four innings thanks to clutch defensive plays by Community. Catcher Peyton Schafer caught a runner trying to steal third base prior to two Salisbury hits in one inning. In another inning, third baseman Amy McCurdy caught a line drive down the line before tagging the runner leading off third base. Murphy said the team has girls playing “consistent” and even “outstanding” defense but has to stop committing errors in the middle, like letting pop flies drop or fielding ground balls.

“We’re making outstanding plays,” Murphy said. “We need to make the easy plays.”

The first game of the day is closer to what Murphy expects, and that resulted in significant victory for the program. Prior to the victory over Canton, Community had never beaten the Lady Tigers and lost the previous seven meetings to them, often during the Paris Tournament. Community’s lone loss at last year’s tournament was a 3-1 decision to Canton.

Curtis pitched the tough-luck loss last year and pitched against the Lady Tigers again this year. Hoyt, McCurdy, Chloe Johnson and Braelyn Kuda each had two RBI 

“They’re a district opponent and knew it was important to set the tone and win that game because of that,” Murphy said. “That game, we hit early and continued to put runs on the board.”

Murphy appreciates the efforts from both of her pitchers: Curtis and Myla Carroll. Against Paris, Carroll allowed four unearned runs on three hits in six innings. Those girls played a big role in Community advancing to its first regular season tournament championship game since the 2021 Cairo Tournament.

“Both pitchers threw well today, especially in the first two games,” Murphy said. “We knew we weren’t going to throw J again (against Paris) since they had seen her twice already so Myla stepped up in a big way there.”

Community hosts Van-Far (1-13) at 5 p.m. Thursday.