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Lady Bulldogs overcome Cape in extras
SIKESTON -- With aches and pains up and down the lineup, the celebration of defeating Cape Central in extra innings was almost cut short by the delivery of ice packs.
"We played hurt today," senior Sydney King said. "I feel like we might play better when we're hurt, actually."
Sikeston pulled out a nerve-racking 5-4 win Tuesday against a district opponent at the Sikeston Sports Complex.
King delivered two blows to the Lady Tiger's -- once in the seventh inning to tie the game and again in the eighth to send everyone home.
"All that was going through my head at the time was I needed to hold the rope for my team," King said. "We needed a big hit and we definitely needed a big win against a district opponent."
The Lady Bulldogs squandered a 3-run lead after four innings and was charged with the task of slowing down Cape Central, who scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead.
King led off the bottom of seventh with a triple to right field that sat and the base of the fence giving her ample time to scoot across the bases.
"She's a power hitter. When she can relax and make contact she hits the ball hard," Sikeston head coach Tiffany Morgan said.
Senior Sarah Dixon pushed King across home plate with a bouncing single up the middle to tie the game at 4-4.
After Dixon's heroics, a single by Annie Ramey and a groundout by Hannah Placek gave the Lady Bulldogs runners on second and third with two outs. However, Kristen Baker smoked a hard liner towards third that was caught by Cape Central's third baseman to send the game into extra innings.
Sikeston handled the top of the eighth by sending the Lady Tigers back to the dugout in order.
Senior Madison Chaney reached first by fisting a single past the Cape Central defense. Chaney immediately stole second to give the Lady Bulldogs the run they needed in scoring position.
With two outs, King hit a hard fly ball to left field that bounced in and out of Cape Central's left fielder giving Chaney the green light to score the game winning run.
"We had a couple bad breaks against them and that's been the story for us so far this season," Morgan said. "This time they went our way."
"We talked about falling apart before the game was over and giving up when we were ahead," King said. "We can't do that and I think we finally learned that we have to stay up through the whole game. I'm glad we pulled it off."
Sikeston totaled 15 hits against the Lady Tigers while they had nine.
A injury-laden Lady Bulldogs squad scored one run on five hits in the second inning and then two more in the fourth on three hits.
"We have Maggie (Shepherd) out and there's no telling how long she'll be out. Madison (Chaney) is not 100 percent either," Morgan said about there bumps and bruises. "I've told these girls that July is when you have to start preparing yourself for the grind that is the regular season. Playing everyday, those things happen.
"But, even though, this was a big win -- a big district win. Our district is going to be a coin toss and if we keep battling, anyone could win it."
Sikeston continues their grueling schedule today with a visit to Kelly High School at 4 p.m. to take on the undefeated Lady Hawks.