It wasn’t an easy day for hitters in North Callaway’s regular season finale on Monday.

All-state pitcher Megan Schmidt dueled Silex all-state pitcher Rylan Harris in Auxvasse for North Callaway’s Pink Out game. Each gave up an RBI extra base hit, but Kylie Twellman hit a two-RBI home run for Silex in the sixth inning to hand North Callaway a 2-1 loss.

The Ladybirds (15-8) lost to Eastern Missouri Conference foe and Class 1 No. 4 Silex (21-5), who is the top seed in its district, two days before they go into the Class 2 District 3 tournament in Harrisburg as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed Slater with Malta Bend (14-8) at 5 p.m. today. Head coach Mariah McKee said it is the type of game that North Callaway needs right before districts, but the team has to do better at the plate now that it’s win-or-go-home.

North Callaway vs Silex Pink Out Photo Gallery

“We’ve got to put the ball in play,” McKee said. “Every time we put the ball in play and made them work, they had a few errors throwing the ball in the dirt. We’ve got to do a better job at the plate and adjust to pitches at the beginning of the game and throughout the game.”

Harris went seven innings with eight strikeouts, four hits and no earned runs. Schmidt countered with 10 strikeouts, three hits, two earned runs and one walk in seven innings, and she supported herself with a RBI double in the third inning.

North Callaway had three other hits, so the scoring opportunities were minimal. McKee said the result could’ve gone either way, but the Ladybirds need to do the most they can when they have less opportunities. For example, they didn’t score in the second inning with two runners in scoring position and were left scoreless in the fourth inning despite Camrey Green reaching third base.

“It’s working your count,” McKee said. “My other coach (Jesse McKee) said, ‘At the beginning of the game, you’re hunting your pitch. You’re hunting the one you want and going for it. In the second time around, you know what she’s throwing and what they’re calling, so you adjust from there.’ Every at bat you have, you have to readjust.”

McKee said the lineup isn’t sharp all the way through right now as the top of the order has seen recent struggles. She said she hopes they can figure something out because softball isn’t always easy.

“The game of softball and baseball is hills and valleys,” McKee said. “You go through slumps and all of that.”

Kendra Pennell hits in the cleanup spot and has done that throughout the year. Pennell is second in RBIs behind Schmidt, leads in doubles with nine, is second in hits with 30 and is third in OPS at 1.010. 

Pennell is a senior and has been in the program as the Ladybirds have finished with a winning record every year. She said it is a “cohesive” team even with the freshmen who came up at the start of the season, and she and the other seniors Schmidt and Mady Gordon have been there for them.

“I didn’t talk a whole lot last year because there’s always that fear of maybe you’re going to say it wrong, and you have a senior that tells you that’s not how it’s supposed to happen,” Pennell said. “As seniors now, we definitely have taken a bigger role of taking charge on the field and at practice.”

Coming through in RBI opportunities brings pressure, Pennell said, but she said the key is to not go overboard with the thinking. 

“I’ve had points where I’ve struggled and have talked to people about it,” Pennell said. “They know me very well, and they say a lot of it is just me being in my head. A lot of times when I go up there in high-pressure situations and know something must be done, I try to clear my mind and know what I need to do with the ball and not think about it too much.”

McKee said this is the case with junior No. 5 hitter Ella Neal, who had a hit against Silex and leads the team in hits with 32 and batting average at .470. Neal is also third in OPS at 1.098 for a career-best season by far after having a .197 average and .523 OPS last year.

“It’s less thinking and going in there and hitting the ball,” McKee said. “Sometimes, we like to try to be perfect and we can’t be. We need to just be in there and ‘See ball, hit ball.’”

Seven of North Callaway’s eight losses happened against state-ranked opponents, including two defeats to No. 1 seed and state No. 3 Harrisburg (28-5), who will be North Callaway’s opponent Thursday if it defeats Slater. Harrisburg has an all-state pitcher named Camryn Gray, and North Callaway has six hits and one run against her in about nine innings. 

McKee said she feels “great” about North Callaway facing its district tournament field, which includes No. 2 seed Salisbury (19-5) and No. 3 seed Fayette (15-8). She said North Callaway has seen the top seed twice and knows what to expect.

“We play a tough schedule, so it’s not like it’s things we haven’t seen,” McKee said. “We know what’s coming, we know how she throws and we know what we need to do. We just got to do it.”