Photos from Brashear's 6-0 win over Knox County in the Class 1, District 11 championship game Friday night in Canton, Mo.
CANTON, Mo. — Brashear senior pitcher Cierra Hines used the same pregame ritual before the District 1, Class 11 title game against Knox County that she used all season Friday in Canton. Hines downed a Monster energy drink and sang with Meredith Thomas on the bus ride to try and pump up the Lady Tigers.
“We try and sing to get everyone pumped up,” Hines said. “We normally sing ‘All I Do is Win’ or ‘Heart of a Champion’ and songs like that.”
Once Hines made it to the mound, she stayed calm and loose. She struck out seven batters and limited Knox County (19-3) to four hits, giving Brashear (19-6) a 6-0 win and the first district title in school history.
“I wasn’t doing as well as I had been doing early in the game,” Hines said. “But I thought the defense did a good job behind me. I was really excited to get this win.”
Knox County coach Marcie Stansberry said Hines did a good job keeping her squad off-balance.
“She threw her rise ball well,” Stansberry said. “We prepared for it this week in practice, we just couldn’t hit it.”
Stansberry was frustrated how her team lost. The Lady Eagles committed eight errors.
“I was definitely disappointed,” Stansberry said. “We didn’t execute under pressure tonight. As the game went on, I think the team could see the game getting away.”
Brashear took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning after Meredith Thomas led off with a single. Thomas then stole second and third base, before scoring on a throwing error.
Lady Tigers’ coach Heath Schneider said what happened in the bottom of the inning changed the game. Knox County’s Mackenzie Hustead led off the inning with a double.
Hines then got Shanna Elder and Olivia Nichols to fly out, before forcing Bailey Couch to groundout to end the inning.
“That was the key part of the game,” Schneider said. “We were able to keep them off the scoreboard and stay ahead. If they tie the game, it goes back to being an even game and would have put more pressure on our girls.”
The Lady Tigers added to their lead in the fifth inning. Alexa Acton reached on an error to open the inning and was driven in by Alli Garrett to give the Lady Tigers’ a 2-0 lead.
After Hines struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth, Brashear added three more runs in the sixth inning. Shelby Salter and Katie Smith scored on errors and Kristen Love scored on a sacrifice fly by Katie Watson, giving Brashear a 5-0 lead.
Thomas, who was three-for-four at the plate, scored to give Brashear a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning on another Knox County error. Knox County’s first two batters singled to start the seventh inning, but Hines retired the next three batters to give the Lady Tigers their first district title.
“I was nervous after the first two girls got hits because anything can happen,” Hines said.
Knox County’s starting pitcher Rachel Poston held Brashear to five hits, but the Lady Eagles mistakes defensively cost them the game.
“There were a lot of errors,” Stansberry said. “But these girls have nothing to hang their heads about. We set a school record in wins, we won the Louisiana Tournament and we beat Putnam County in 10 games. It just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”
Schneider, who coached Brashear’s baseball team to the state title game in 2010, wants to see the softball team follow the same path.
“We’re excited that we won the game, but this isn’t the end,” Schneider said. “We’ve never made this far, but now we want to keep playing.”
Meredith Thomas’ brother, Matt, was on that Brashear team. She wants to take things a step further than he did.
“It feels great, but we want to get to state,” she said. “But I want to get first, so I can rub it in his face.”
Copyright 2011 Kirksville Daily Express. Some rights reserved
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