Taylor Tiffany strikes out 19 as Portageville tops Kennett, 5-3

A much-anticipated battle between Kennett and Portageville lived up to the hype, as it featured all that drama you would expect from two of the areas strongest softball teams. The Lady Indians got big hits to take an early lead, but a late rally allowed the Lady Bulldogs to seal a 5-3 win.

Portageville's ace Taylor Tiffany struck out 19 in a stand-out complete game performance.

"It's frustrating, but it is what it is," said Lady Indians head coach Kevin McCaig. "They're a team that was one play away from playing a state championship in the fall. We battled. We had a lead late in the game and we still don't give up. The tying run was on second base."

Despite threatening late, Kennett came up short from getting that big hit while Portageville capitalized by forcing tough plays on the Lady Indians' defense.

Both teams hit the ball hard early on. The Lady Bulldogs opened the game with two big hits off Kennett's Madi Parr, but Parr found her way out of the inning without giving up a run.

It was a similar story in the bottom of the first. Jacky Lockhert came inches away from homering off of Portageville's ace. The ball bounced off the big plastic yellow covering on top of the fence in left-center, but then it bounced back into play forcing Lockhert to settle with a double.

Tiffany struck Anna Wheeler at the start of the inning, then struck out Logan Vaughan and Hannah Crisswell to get out of the inning.

Parr worked through just three Portageville batters in the top of the second. She fielded a grounder for the first out, then struck out the next two batters with off-speed pitches. Tiffany responded for the Lady Bulldogs by striking out the side.

Portageville threatened again in the top of the third inning, starting with a base hit that bounced just in front of Meagan Pickens in left field. A dribbler up the middle presented a double play opportunity, but it inched just past Vaughan's glove to put runners at first and second.

A bunt attempt with two strikes went foul to give Kennett one out, then a pop fly found Lockherts glove for two. The inning ended with a hard hit pop fly to Kenna Hounihan in center field.

Madi Shrum helped herself in the bottom of the third by drawing a walk with one out. Wheeler then dropped a lovely bunt that Portageville couldn't get a play on. With runners on first and second, Lockhert singled to load the bases. Then, Vaughan pulled through in the clutch with a two RBI single.

Tiffany took control of the inning from the mound by striking out the next two batters to stop the bleeding for Portageville. Shrum went back to the mound with a 2-0 lead in hand. The Lady Bulldogs got back on first base after a hard hit ball off of Parr. A Lady Bulldogs batter flew out to Hounihan before a bunt attempt was popped up to the catcher, Criswell.

Shrum got out of the inning with a strike out that was called on a check swing. In the bottom of the fourth, Tiffany worked quickly through three batters. She fielded a bunt from Kayton Harris before striking out the next two batters.

Portageville's bench came alive in the top of the fifth inning after a pep talk from coach Billy Cook. The Lady Bulldogs roared and banged against the dugout fencing as their first batter drew a walk. She then advanced to second on a pass ball from Shrum. A grounder to Lockhert forced an out at first base while the runner advanced to third.

The next batter worked a 2-0 count, but Shrum settled down to earn a strikeout before forcing another grounder to Lockhert.

Tiffany started off the bottom of the fifth by striking out Wheeler and Lockhert before Vaughan struck a towering double off the bottom of the left-center field fence. The Lady Bulldogs intentionally walked Criswell before Tiffany struck out Patton after a long at bat.

Portageville got off to a strong start in the top of the sixth when a line drive bounced off Sydney Patton's glove, behind first base into foul territory. The next batter flew out flew out to Vaughan before a bloop single that off Lockhert's outstretched glove.

With runners on first and second, Destiny Croons drew a walk to load the bases. Shrum worked a full count against the next batter before she hit a hard grounder down the left field line to clear the bases, giving Portageville a 3-2 lead.

Shrum earned the second out with a stike out, but a throwing error by Vaughan allowed the Lady Bulldogs to take a 4-2 lead. A pop fly to Harris sent Kennett back to the dug out to repair the damage.

In the bottom of the sixth, Tiffany struck out the side for the second time in the game to send Portageville back to the plate with momentum on their side.

The Lady Bulldogs lead off a base hit between first and second base before she advanced to second on a pass ball. The next batter then drew a walk, forcing McCaig to bring in Madison Pickens to pitch in relief.

With runners on first and second, a hard grounder off of third base bounced into left field, allowing another runner to stretch Portageville's lead to 5-2. Another bunt attempt on strike two went foul, before Pickens struck out the final batter of the inning.

This sent Kennett back to the dugout with one more chance in the bottom of the seventh. Tiffany earned another strike out to start off the side, then Wheeler attempted a bunt that was popped up to Tiffany. With two outs, Lockhert grounded to short stop to force an error at first base. Vaughan then slapped another base hit to allow Criswell to represent the tying run at the plate.

Criswell hit one hard hit ball out to left field, but it curved foul. A few pitches later, she slapped a single that allowed Lockhert to score. Patton then came up to represent the game-winning run. She fought hard to work the count, but Tiffany got away with a called strike three to end the game.

"She's a heck of a pitcher," McCaig said of Portageville's ace after the game. "She's going to play at the next level, and somewhere decent if not really good. She's only a junior, so she's only going to get stronger."

Just a day before Kennett's loss to Portageville, they lost a similarly close battle to Naylor. After that game, he knew he was set to face a team that possesses an expertise in timely hits.

"They always find that one big hit that gets them over the hump, and they did it again today," he said. "But you know what, we battled. We had three hits in the last inning. Against a pitcher like that, three hits all game is pretty good. We had it in one inning."

Despite his positivity, McCaig expressed a hint of frustration as his team works to correct a few defensive and offensive woes that could have shaped the game in their favor. Despite some self made trouble, a few hits could have fallen Kennett's way, and the game may have ended differently.

"It's just the frustration of finding a way to get over that hump," he added. "It took us a while last year against them, to get over that hump. And when we did, we got confidence and we rolled the rest of the way. Hopefully it will happen like that again this year."

With their next game cancelled, McCaig decided to seek out another tough battle on Friday, Apr. 17. They're not set to travel to Paragould, where they'll face off against a team that has one player committed to Mizzou and another to the University of Arkansas.

"Our girls want to get challenged," he said. "They want to feel like they feel now when they lose a game like that."

The Lady Indians head coach worked to pick up his players by showing all of the positives that they'll carry away from their latest defeat.

"There's so many good things that happened in that game. When we find a way to get that big one, and find away to keep that big one from happening, we end up on the other side of the scoreboard."

PHS: 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 - 5 10 0

KHS: 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 - 3 8 1

WP: Tiffany 19 Ks

LP: Shrum 9 Ks.