Community R-6 continue rolling through history, start 5-0 after 16-6 win vs Marceline

Community R-6 softball has looked impressive through only five games this season.

Community R-6 vs Clopton, Marceline Photo Gallery

The Lady Trojans had averaged 9.3 runs through their first four games and then came back to defeat a two-time reigning Class 2 state champion Marceline 16-6 in five innings on Saturday at home. The victory moved Community’s record to 5-0 in what is the best start in more than 15 years of program history.

Community missed out on the five-inning run rule victory earlier in the day against district foe Clopton when it won 6-0 behind a Paige Painter shut out and were down 5-2 after the Lady Tigers rallied against Jocelyn Curtis in the second inning. The Lady Trojans answered back with eight runs in the third inning, taking advantage of four Marceline errors to score four of the runs off errors but still were effectively passing the stick for a statement win early in the season, head coach Kendra Murphy said.

“(Brooklynn Glasgow) said it in the huddle where if we can hit that well and have that confidence off of a team like that and pitcher’s like that, then there’s no reason we can’t accomplish our goals,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the Lady Trojans knew going into the game would be their toughest test so far. Marceline had already defeated Clopton 15-1 in five innings in the triangular hosted in Laddonia and had its all-state at-large player from a year ago Ireland Bloss in the circle against Community.

Bloss and the Lady Tigers sustained damage early when Painter blasted a fastball over the fence in the first inning for a two-RBI home run, giving Community a 2-0 lead and Painter 12 RBI through five games. Murphy said she noticed Bloss adjusted since then but couldn’t counter the Lady Trojans when they sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning.

“We didn’t have that many strikeouts (six), and we continued to battle,” Murphy said. “We did a better job that inning of not swinging at the changeup, forcing her to throw a fastball and then teeing off on that until we got two strikes. The inning before where we didn’t score any runs, we were swinging at her changeup when we didn’t have any strikes or one strike so we were getting ourselves out.”

Alyssa Beamer began the scoring in the third inning when she hit a RBI single the opposite way before Taylor Johnson’s bunt turned into an error and run and Peyton Schafer’s groundout tied the game. A missed catch on Rylee Rafferty’s popup allowed two more runs to score before Curtis came through with a two-RBI single, giving Community five runs on two outs in the inning.

The Nos. 6 through 9 spots in the Lady Trojans’ order — Beamer, Taylor Johnson, Schafer and Chloe Johnson — finished 6-for-14 with six RBI. Murphy said the girls she has rearranged for those spots in the order have done well advancing the lineup, whether it is through bunting to advance runners or via clutch hits like Schafer’s two-RBI double in the fourth inning. Taylor Johnson’s single and Chloe Johnson’s RBI single prolonged the inning for Rafferty’s two RBI double to give Community the runs it needed for the five-inning victory.

“Game after game, they continue to do their job,” Murphy said. “It might not be them getting on base, but they continue to put the bunt down when they’re asked to put the bunt down and putting the ball in play and moving runners. That’s exactly what we need from those four.”

There is confidence in each other and that their assigned jobs will be done, and that includes Curtis and her bounce-back effort in the circle. Curtis pitched five innings with five hits, six strikeouts and three walks while only allowing one earned run. 

Curtis said it felt nice when her offense immediately backed her up after her worst inning and liked that she was part of the effort too with her run-scoring hit. After that inning, she made it hard on Marceline even when there were runners in scoring position, stranding runners in two innings on a strikeout.

“The main adjustment is talking each other up and getting more confidence and knowing that my team will back me up,” Curtis said. “I just got to go out there and pitch and hit my spots and Murphy has really helped me do that.”

Murphy agreed Curtis was hitting her spots and those were spots called by Murphy instead of Glasgow behind the plate. After seeing Marceline play in a preseason jamboree, Murphy was confident she had the game plan to defeat the Lady Tigers.

“This is the first game I’ve called all year,” Murphy said. “I just had some info on them and had a pretty good understanding of what to call. She was doing a great job of executing the pitch.”

Community opened its Central Activities Conference schedule Tuesday at home against Pilot Grove (2-3) before traveling to district foe Silex (2-2) for 5 p.m. Thursday game. The Lady Trojans thought this start was possible and believes they can make much more happen.

“We were feeling pretty good about it after practices and everything,” Curtis said. “Everybody knew we were going to come out and win some games this year.”

Painter, Lady Trojans throw off timing of Clopton in 6-0 win

Community R-6 softball hasn’t started a season 3-0 in some time.

For the first time in more than 15 years, the Lady Trojans went into the fourth game with that record and improved it even more on Saturday morning at home with a 6-0 win against district foe Clopton. Paige Painter was instrumental as she pitched seven innings with four strikeouts and three hits, but more importantly, 13 groundouts induced.

Painter also led the offense by going 2-of-4 with three RBI, coming through in key run producing spots. She said finding the right spots has helped her do well in the circle.

“I’ve hit my spots more, and my defense did impeccable today,” Painter said. “They back me all the time.”

Head coach Kendra Murphy said Painter and Community’s other pitcher Jocelyn Curtis aren’t big strikeouts pitchers but don’t have to be with their ability to induce weak contact and the defense’s capability to turn that into outs.

“She did a good job of throwing her changeup once in a while and just keeping them just enough off-balance,” Murphy said. “She also stayed low in the zone and then went high to get outs. Low in the zone was inducing a lot of ground balls, and our defense was on point today.”

Murphy said the girls in the field were aware of Painter’s type of pitching from the beginning of the season because of them playing together last season. Defense then should be an area where Community is strong. 

From the beginning of the Lady Trojans’ game against Clopton, they had the advantage after Painter struck out a batter to strand a runner in the first inning. Community loaded the bases to set up Taylor Johnson reaching because of an error on a slow ground ball to first base. The Lady Trojans led 1-0 but then took a more sizable lead after the second inning.

Community had the bases loaded once again, and Painter was able to find a hole up the middle for a two-RBI single. Amy McCurdy reaching via another error made it 4-0 prior to the score increasing to 6-0 after the third inning because of a Brooklynn Glasgow sacrifice fly and Painter RBI single. That RBI hit made Painter 9-16 with 10 RBI through four games.

“My hitting has gotten a lot better throughout the years,” Painter said. “A lot of that I owe to coach Murphy. She’s taught me a lot like with my timing and how I approach the plate.”

Murphy said Painter has adapted well with the speed of pitches, and the rest of the Lady Trojans seemed to be adjusting to the slower movement displayed by Clopton’s Brooke Jarrett. The bottom fell out from the ball several times only for Community to fail to put the ball in the play several times.

These instances didn’t hurt the Lady Trojans too much as they didn’t strike out once for the first time this season. 

“We talked a lot about staying through the ball and then trying to adjust our timing,” Murphy said. “Rather than getting loaded so quickly, like we normally would do, we’d wait longer as the pitch is arriving and picture where it would be on a tee.”

Murphy said Community has worked on that approach to hitting a lot already this year because of the slower-speed pitchers with good changeups it has seen. Six Lady Trojans ended up with at least a hit including Glasgow going 2-for-4 with a RBI, and Chloe Johnson going 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk.

Before the game, it was announced over the public address system that Community hasn’t started a season 3-0 for a while. Murphy said she didn’t know that but knows her girls have big expectations this season.

“The girls set two team goals this year: one winning conference and the other to win a district championship,” Murphy said. “It’s definitely doable. This group plays really well together and like to play for each other.”