Mexico softball anomaly leads to 12-1 district loss to Tolton

Mexico softball didn’t play its usual game on Thursday.

Mexico vs Father Tolton Districts Photo Gallery

It unfortunately happened in the opening round of the Class 3 District 4 tournament at Moberly and led to Mexico losing 12-1 in five innings to reigning district champion and sixth-ranked team Father Tolton. Bella Trim struck out 10 and allowed two hits in five innings and Montana Strobel’s four RBI led a 10-hit offense by Tolton that did its damage in the first two innings.

Head coach Hanna Branch said the Lady Bulldogs, who finish the season with a 16-12 overall record and 8-2 conference record, didn’t agree with some of the strike zone calls but ultimately didn’t play the softball of which they are capable. Branch isn’t sure what led to struggles offensively, defensively and early on in the circle but is certain Mexico’s previous 5-2 loss this season to Tolton is closer to her team’s identity.

“That game doesn’t define us as a team,” Branch said. “In the season as a whole, we played some really good games and played some really tough teams, giving them a run for their money at times.”

Branch said the team’s three pitchers have had to be flexible as they were thrown in various roles and situations this season. She said senior Emma Cunningham embodied this flexibility and ability to rise to the occasion while she led the two freshman arms Aleigha Henderson and Keerstan Ewing.

Henderson started against Tolton (25-12) and couldn’t retire a batter so Cunningham came on in relief. Branch said the defense wasn’t as sharp as it was two days prior against fourth-ranked Fulton and at various times this year. On Tuesday, Henderson was sharp through five innings in a game for the North Central Missouri Conference title and has posted better results in the circle since she went seven innings on Sept. 19 in Moberly in a 6-1 victory against the Lady Spartans.

“Our pitchers did a great job of stepping up in whatever role I put them in,” Branch said. “Our defense was a little off and struggled to back up our pitching at times. There were some plays I think we should’ve made and that probably would’ve made a little bit of a difference with how the game went.”

Ewing pitched the least amount of innings this season partially due to an early injury but settled in against Tolton by retiring the final eight batters she faced, finishing with 2⅔ shutout innings with one hit allowed. After Tolton hit liner after liner, its offense wasn’t squaring Ewing’s pitches up as easily and hit into more weak outs.

“Keerstan has a little more spin on her ball and maybe a little bit different speed than what some of the varsity players are used to,” Branch said. “She was pretty hard to time because a lot of the girls were out in front.”

Branch said she believes Ewing and Henderson will improve even more as they log more innings in the circle. Each of their freshmen seasons were a good start thanks to leadership provided by Mexico’s senior pitcher.

“Emma has been a leader and mentally very steady throughout the season,” Branch said. “It’s been nice to have a senior leader help our freshmen pitchers through the season. They’ve all grown a lot since the beginning of the season. You can tell they have found confidence and grown a lot in the game.”

Branch finished her first season as a head coach, which she said she was fortunate to have spent in the Lady Bulldogs program. One of the prominent reasons she was thankful to have landed in Mexico was her senior class of five girls.

Jo Thurman, who will play softball with the University of Missouri, scored the only run for Mexico in the fourth inning. As she has done consistently this season, Thurman drew a walk prior to stealing second base. In Tolton’s attempt to throw her out, the throw was off-target and Thurman ended up rounding third base to cross the plate. 

Future Central Methodist Eagles Karlee Sefrit and Brooke Teel and Cunningham and Kylie Burnett also played their final games as Lady Bulldogs, taking time together after the loss.

“I’m proud of the team as a whole,” Branch said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group to start my head coaching career with. Our seniors have been great leadership for our team, and I hope they leave a legacy that our returners can continue. I know that, whatever they do after high school, they’re going to do great things.”

Mexico boys soccer loses momentum in 4-2 loss at Kirksville

The game changed from that moment on Tuesday.

Mexico boys soccer lost 4-2 at North Central Missouri Conference foe Kirksville despite scoring first, but Kirksville took advantage of a penalty kick awarded to them to tie the game.

Head coach Bill Gleeson said he thought the player who tripped over the ball was offsides, but it wasn’t called. The Tigers (8-7, 5-3 NCMC) scored in other instances where Gleeson and Mexico (6-10-2, 0-8 NCMC) thought they might have been offsides but acknowledged the penalty kick goal shifted the momentum to Kirksville’s side.

Jesus Garcia and Gage Walker scored goals for Mexico.

Mexico played at conference foe and Class 3 No. 9 Hannibal (14-4-1, 7-0 NCMC) on Thursday before hosting conference foe Moberly (10-6, 5-3 NCMC) at 5 p.m. Monday.

Mexico JV boys win Centralia Invitational

The Mexico junior varsity boys had their runners scattered all around the standings on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs won the Centralia Invitational’s JV 5,000 meters at Centralia Country Club after scoring 21 points to win the prize out of three schools. Christian Frederickson had the winning time of 20:20.

After Frederickson, four Bulldogs appeared in the top five of the 36-runner field including Kyle Lewis in second with a time of 20:25, William Bingham in fourth with a 20:52 and Landon Higgins in fifth with a 21:29. Braiden Bock finished 10th with a 22:29, and Skylar Shaw was 12th with a 23:31.

In the middle school 3,200-meter races, Seth Stevenson had the best finish in the boys race in 14th out of 98 runners with a time of 12:51, Israel Hernandez was 16th with a 12:53, Gavin Gruer was 20th with a 13:21, Angel Muralles Pedroza was 24th with a 13:46 and Reid Bickell was 28th with a 13:53. In the girls’ 3,200 meters, Lisabeth Ventura Rios was 24th out of 79 runners with a 15:34. The boys finished third out of 10 schools with 97 points.