Pratt, MCHS overwhelm Palmyra

The MCHS junior left-handed pitcher started with two strike outs. With herself in the batter’s box shortly thereafter, Pratt laced a lead-off triple to spark a four-run, home-half of the first inning.

Pratt went the distance in the circle yielding eight hits with 10 strikeouts, no walks.

“I had an amazing catcher, Emily (Freidank) in the back and she was there for me helping me up, figuring it out. It was good teamwork all-around. All the girls, we were pumped and ready for this game,” Pratt said.

“The student section was great. The atmosphere was awesome,” Pratt continued. “It’s one of those rival games. We were talking about it all day at school.”

MCHS head coach Melissa Chinn said Pratt was “definitely in the zone” versus PHS.

“She did great keeping them on their toes, keeping them off balance,” Chinn added. “Man, just a great performance for sure.”

With the win, Monroe City improved to 2-1 in the Clarence Cannon Conference and 6-2 overall. The victory was the Lady Panthers’ fifth in a row dating back to the Monroe City Tournament.

Following Pratt’s triple to left field, Kiera Nash drove Palmyra pitcher Kennedy Wilson’s first delivery into center field for an RBI sacrifice fly. A double from Audri Youngblood and Belle Clark’s single put runners on the corners when a Palmyra error on a Freidank ground ball allowed Youngblood to score. One batter later, Cahlin Chapman hoisted a two-run double to left-center field.

Monroe City scored three times in the second inning to go up 7-0 aided by three Palmyra errors and a walk. Clark’s two-run double was the Lady Panthers lone hit.

Palmyra (4-4) scored twice in the fourth inning, assisted by a pair of Monroe City errors, and could have scored more. With one out and two PHS base runners on, Pratt struck out Jenna McVeigh and Alaina Loman.

MCHS took an 8-2 lead during the bottom of the inning. Pratt was walked and later scored on Clark’s one-out sacrifice fly.

Palmyra added one run in the sixth inning. Pratt gave up a lead-off single to Wilson followed by Hailey Kroeger’s double. PHS scored on a fielder’s choice and Pratt retired the next two batters.

Monroe City took advantage of back-to-back, one-out walks from Palmyra pitcher Tenlee Voss in the bottom of the frame. Clark, the team’s clean-up hitter, added another RBI with a double. Freidank, the No. 5 batter, hit a two-run double.

During the winning streak, MCHS hitters have improved with runners on base – often coming through with two-out RBI hits.

“You have base runners on, I don’t care how many outs there are, it’s really come alive and it’s been fun to watch them get their stuff together and hit well,” Chinn said.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Panthers pounded out 12 hits in an 8-2 home win versus Clark County.

MCHS scored one run in the first inning, then produced a five-run second to pull away.

Youngblood started in the circle. The sophomore right-hander scattered four hits with two runs scored during five innings of work. Youngblood finished with five strikeouts and three walks.