Staley’s softball title is among fall sports postseason highlights
Only six days into its season, the Staley High School softball team had already lost three games. Its coach, Jairus Tapp, described his team as one struggling to find an identity.
Over the next few games, it settled on two — pitching and defense.
Not a bad formula.
The Falcons utilized it over the final two months of the season, culminating in the Missouri Class 4 state championship. They finished 27-6, the last victory a 10-6 win Saturday against Marquette that landed the Falcons their first state title in program history.
“I think right after we started getting on our streak of winning, we really came close together,” senior pitcher Alle Pattillo said in a phone interview after the state championship win. “After we figured out who we were, we were unstoppable.”
The Falcons won 13 of their final 14 games. Pattillo served as the ace pitcher, and Tapp was quick to point out her ability to pitch to contact, which allowed the aforementioned defense control the game.
“I haven’t seen a team more athletic,” Tapp said. “I think that really showed up with our defense. It wasn’t just the occasional spectacular play. It was their incredible ability to consistently make the routine plays.”
It was that athletic ability, Tapp said, that first led him to believe the Falcons were capable of making a lengthy postseason run — despite their relative youth.
Staley featured only three seniors — Pattillo, Jordan Jenkins and Abby Klein. Jenkins was one of three players who homered in the state championship game, along with Jen Harvey and Alyssa Ramirez.
“I’m just so appreciative of the girls and the work they put in to get here. This was their championship,” Tapp said. “I’m just grateful they took me along for the ride.”
CROSS COUNTRY
When Kearney junior Clayton Adams took second place in the Missouri Class 4 state cross country meet last season, he described his finish as “surprising.”
A year later, it’s more along the lines of expected.
Adams opened the postseason by cruising to victory at the Missouri Class 4, District 8 meet Saturday, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes, 3.6 seconds.
Staley senior Jackson Frazier took second (16:30), which helped the Falcons win the district team title.
Liberty sophomore Ryan Flood was third, and Park Hill junior Hunter Lund placed fifth.
In the girls race, Platte County sophomore Rebekah Geddes won the meet with a time of 19 minutes, 4.9 seconds. Park Hill South junior Alexis Maddox, Winnetonka junior Emma Evans, Kearney senior Anne Wood and Park Hill South sophomore Marti Heit rounded out the top-five.
VOLLEYBALL
The St. Pius X volleyball team will spend the final week of October in its usual spot — competing for a state championship.
The Warriors reached the Final Four for the fifth straight season and will play in the Missouri Class 3 state tournament, along with Pleasant Hill, Villa Duchesne, and St. Pius X Festus. The two-day tournament will open Friday at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
St. Pius X, which is 24-8-3 this season, has been a regular qualifier for the state tournament over the past decade, but it is searching for its first state championship since 2006.