SPRINGFIELD — Hitless in her first six at-bats in her first taste of Districts and fresh from striking out, Natalie Morgan was still able to find the self-confidence she needed.
The freshman catcher made her first post-season hit mighty memorable by delivering a two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Ozark over Republic 4-3 in a Class 5 District 6 semifinal Thursday.
“I was for sure nervous,” Morgan said. “But I took a deep breath and gave myself affirmation that I could do it. ”
Morgan blooped a single to right field to score Courtney Merrell with the tying run and Kenna Mayfield with the winning run. It wasn’t the hardest hit, but Morgan wasn’t necessarily trying to hit the ball hard.
“I wanted to at least put the ball in play,” she said. “I was just trying to poke it and I wanted to take it to the right side so the runners could advance.”
With a 3-1 count, she saw the chance to go to the right side when she received a pitch on the outside corner.
“I was waiting for that pitch,” Morgan said. “After I hit it, I was thinking, ‘That better drop.’
“I’m going to remember this every day of my life,” she added. “I’m so glad for the opportunity. I wanted to do it for our seniors. They have worked so hard. I wanted to give them a chance to play again.”
“She was really clutch,” winning pitcher Jordyn Foley said. “We’re all very thankful for it. I knew she could do it.”
Ozark (23-7) jumped on top 2-0 after two innings, thanks to a triple by Abby Ford and an RBI-single by Aubrey Carlson. But Republic tied things on a home run by Jenna Belcher in the third and gained the lead by scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth.
Ozark put two runners on base in the fourth and sixth, but failed to score. On a double-steal attempt in the sixth, Ozark had a runner thrown out at home.
“Never in any moment did I not believe in this group,” coach Jimmy Nimmo said. “We let some opportunities get away from us. We didn’t step up and have timely hits. But I knew in the last inning we were in a good spot in our lineup. I had no doubt in her girls coming up.”
Merrell led off the seventh by lining a single to center. With two strikes on her, Mayfield followed by lining a single to right.
“Kenna is fired up and doesn’t want to leave with a loss,” Nimmo siad. “(Assistant coach Adam Erickson) was thinking she was going to hit a two-run home run in that situation. I wasn’t thinking home run. But I was confident she was going to find a way to get on.”
Just as he was happy to have his seniors keep playing, Nimmo was proud of Carlton and Morgan, both freshmen, fpr driving in runs.
“It’s great for them to be in situations like this to build maturity,” Nimmo said. “This should build confidence for Natalie.”
Foley threw a three-hitter and did her best pitching against Republic’s best hitter, Emi Essary. She struck out Essary, who has nine home runs on the season, in her last two at-bats with runners on base.
Foley wasn’t aware of Essary’s prowess, but wouldn’t have pitcher her any differently if she had known.
“I try to go into every at-bat like each hitter is a good hitter,” she said.
Foley shook off control issues and gained confidence in her rise ball after throwing in Ozark’s bullpen prior to the seventh inning.
“I tried to fix my rise ball with Natalie in the cage and I think that helped,” Foley said. “I threw less than 10 pitches. (The rise ball) was working well and I think it carried over onto the field.”
“I told her she needed to work it out and she did,” Morgan said.
“Jordyn did her job that last inning,” Nimmo said. “Those two strikeouts were huge. That set the momentum up for us. I give credit to her for continuing to fight.
“We made mistakes, but you’ve got to keep grinding,” he added. “The girls didn’t allow their mistakes to get them down. They continued to believe and continued to fight.”
Ozark moves on to meet Nixa in the final at 4 p.m. Saturday. The game is set to be played at Nia, with the plan being to return to Springfield Central if the Lady Eagles’ field is deemed too wet.
