Advance beats Woodland 9-1 in SCAA softball title game

PUXICO, Mo. - For a second straight game Advance coach James Hamlin had his team take extra batting practice before the start of play at the Stoddard County softball tournament in Puxico.

"We got over here early today and put in some extra hitting practice and spent some time in the cage beforehand," Hamlin said. "We wanted to jump on it and really get after it. We focus on our hitting and when we get down we go back to the drawing board as a team and look at hitting. Every girl on the team really works at it."

Every Advance hitter in the lineup collected a hit or an RBI Tuesday to help the third-seeded Hornets pull off its second straight upset at the two-day tournament and secure the SCAA title with a 9-1 victory against top-seeded Woodland.

"This is one of those seasons where early on we set this as a goal," Hamlin said of winning the championship. "We had some early struggles, but believed in ourselves. We dug down deep. Woodland put it to us early in the year. We knew today was going to be a battle and we talked about getting on top early."

The Hornets calculated the first nine runs against Woodland. Hannah Clark had a two-run homer in the top of the first inning and drove home a runner from third when she grounded out in the third inning. Krystal James added an RBI double in the fourth frame to pad the Advance lead to 4-0.

The Hornets tallied five additional runs in the top of the fifth inning. Kendra Sokolowski had a two-RBI single in the fifth and Jordan Eaton drove home a run when she hit a ground ball on the infield with a runner at third and less than two outs. Two additional runs scored on Woodland defensive miscues.

Clark took care of the rest in the circle. She earned a complete-game victory. Clark struck out five.

"We came out early and really got after it," Hamlin said. "That early lead gave Hannah the ability to go out there, hit her spots and not have to be as tight as it would be in a scoreless situation."

Josie Long drove home Woodland's run with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

It is the second straight season Woodland has placed second at the SCAA softball tournament. Advance is the first SCAA team to beat Woodland in the 2014 spring season.

"It's definitely not we wanted or what we should have achieved," Woodland coach Andrea Arnold said. "We came out here with confidence and quickly lost it. We put our heads down and just didn't play ball."

Advance is off until it begins play in its four-team district tournament with Charleston, Scott City and Scott County Central next week.

"I'm proud of our girls effort and focus," Hamlin said. "This is our first step and we've got one more goal and it starts Monday."

Woodland is off until the start of its four-team district with Leopold, Meadow Heights and Oak Ridge next week.

"We've got four or five days before districts start Monday so I told them 'we have four or five really hard practices,'" Arnold said. "We need to be ready to go and need to reset. This doesn't matter anymore. The district is what we are looking toward."

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com The Advance softball team with its first-place plaque after its 9-1 win against Woodland in the Stoddard County softball championship at Puxico Tuesday.

No. 3 Advance 9, No. 1 Woodland 1

AHS 201 150 0 - 9 12 3

WHS 000 010 0 - 1 6 2

WP - Hannah Clark. LP - Kathlyn Cooper. HR - Clark (A). 3B - Kendra Sokolowski (A). 2B - Krystal James (A), Mara Gindstaff (W). Multiple hits - Advance: Madison Brown 2-4, Sydney Bailey 2-4, Sokolowski 2-4, Maddie Kennedy 2-3.