FORSYTH — Madeline Brown and her Sparta teammates fared much better against Springfield Catholic pitcher Jocee Luce the second time around Friday.
The Lady Trojans knocked off the Lady Irish 11-7 in a Class 2 District 5 first-round game, after Luce and Catholic took the teams’ regular-season matchup 5-2.
“We had never seen a girl with a changeup as good as hers. We couldn't adjust,” Brown said of Sparta’s loss to Luce. “This time, we knew what their pitcher had. It’s hard to adjust (to her changeup). You want to swing and hit it. But when it's coming slower like that, you have to wait on it.”
Sparta coach Jamie Holmes was pleased to see her hitters take Luce’s changeup to the opposite field.
“We’ve worked all year long on trying to hit the ball up the middle, instead of trying to pull everything,” Holmes said. “We’ve worked on letting the ball get deep, trusting our hands and hitting it where it's pitched.”
Brown’s 4-for-5 day included a two-run double off the left-center field fence.
“As a senior, I didn't want to think about this possibly being my last game,” Brown said. “I’m not stressing about it. I just went out and had fun. I tried to calm myself down and tune everyone else out. I feel like my swing today came out alive and showed the hard work we do in practice.”
Sparta (17-7) put up five runs in both the second and third innings and added a single tally in the seventh.
First baseman Kenzie Wilson delivered three hits and three RBIs. She came to the plate with the bases loaded in each of her final four at-bats.
Center fielder Mya Fulton bunted twice for base hits as she produced three singles.
Winning pitcher Addie Humble kept third-seeded Catholic (13-12) from scoring more than three runs in an inning. The Lady Irish were scoreless in three of the last four innings.
The win was the first in the post-season for Holmes. She is in her first season at Sparta, after being an assistant at Glendale for six years.
“The girls have been an absolute blast,” Holmes said. “They’ve welcomed me. They made the change to a new coach and have taken well to me. It kind of feels like I've been here a couple years.”
Clever was ousted by Forsyth 4-3 in another opening-round game Friday.
The Lady Jays rallied from a 3-0 deficit by plating three runs in the fourth inning.
Clever (13-13) outhit Forsyth 8-7.
Sparta advances to semifinal action Monday at 6 p.m. versus No. 2 seed Marionville (15-8). In the other semifinal, No. 1 seed Strafford (15-10) will meet No. 4 seed Forsyth (15-15) at 4:30 p.m.
