Mexico senior Karlee Sefrit had been waiting to defeat Kirksville in softball since she was in eighth grade.

Mexico vs Kirksville Photo Gallery

On Tuesday night at home, Sefrit and her teammates achieved victory after she hit a RBI single to walk off their North Central Missouri Conference foe 4-3. In the sixth inning, Landri Teel erased the lead gained by a three-RBI Olivia Williams home run with a game-tying single.

Sefrit had two runners with no outs when she stepped to the plate. Brooke Teel had walked, stole second base and advanced to third base on a passed ball, and Kenley Jones also drew a walk. Trusting her teammates’ abilities, she said she was able to quell the nerves in that pivotal situation and take the ball the opposite way to right field.

“I knew Brooke was on third, and the only thing that was going through my head was chop at it,” Sefrit said. “If I hit it up, they’ll catch it because they’re a great team. She’s a quick runner so even if it was on (the left side) of the field, she definitely would have got in. But it’s easier if the ball is chopped on the right field because she is out there.”

Other seniors that shared the same sentiments as Sefrit in wanting to finally defeat Kirksville (7-2, 1-1 NCMC) included Brooke Teel, who scored the winning run; Jo Thurman, who went 1-for-1 with two walks; Kylie Burnett, who had a RBI groundout earlier in the second inning; and Emma Cunningham, who posted seven innings with five hits and two earned runs.

Head coach Hanna Branch was away at a wedding that was scheduled prior to her accepting the job so baseball head coach Daniel McCarty took charge for Tuesday’s game along with coach Donna Butts. Defeating Kirksville has always been tough and this year was no exception because of the Lady Tigers’ 7-1 record heading into Tuesday, Butts said, so Mexico (5-4, 2-0 NCMC) has been preparing for this rematch.

“We looked solid defensively, and in practice, we’ve been working on the inside and outside pitches and pulling to the different fields,” Butts said. “It looked like it was paying off today.”

Landri Teel said Tuesday’s victory wouldn’t have been done without teamwork. This was true in the sixth inning when Teel came through in her clutch moment, which was the next one following her walk-off single to defeat Marion C. Early in a tournament during the previous weekend.

Thurman singled to lead off the sixth inning and then took second base on a passed ball and third base on a groundout to first base by Hannah Loyd. With the runner in even better position to score, Teel went to work.

“I wanted to put the ball in play, move the runners and get them in,” Teel said.

Cunningham and the Lady Bulldogs ran into trouble after losing their lead in the fourth inning as a familiar adversary hit them hard. Williams tallied eight RBI in two games last year against Mexico and even recorded seven of them in one game. Three runs scored on her home run.

Butts said that moment could have taken the air out of the team for the rest of the game, but it ultimately didn’t as Mexico fought back against Kirksville hurler Paislee Clark after a pep talk by McCarty.

“When we get to the top of the order, they’re really fast so you get one of them on and can move them around,” Butts said. “They become really aggressive with their baserunning so I think that has helped us too. All of them do really pick each other up really well.”

After Williams’ home run, Cunningham buckled down and retired 11 of the next Lady Tigers to set the table prior to Mexico’s hitters setting up their teammates for opportunities. 

Cunningham was one of two primary arms for Mexico a year ago and now she is the leader of a staff that consists of three arms. Butts said it might feel much different for Cunningham this year, but that might explain why she has been sharp so far this season.

“She’s a senior and has to step up,” Butts said. “We have two freshman pitchers, and she’s our senior pitcher. She’s worked hard over the summer with her pitches.”

Mexico traveled to conference foe Hannibal on Thursday before hosting district foe Hallsville at 10 a.m. today.