Three things to watch at Missouri high school state softball

The Missouri high school softball state semifinals and championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Killian Sports Complex in Springfield. A common thread ties the three Kansas City area representatives together — it’s the first trip to the Final Four for all three.

More on each team:

1. Blue Springs South

The lineup has been an extra-base hitting machine. The school’s single-season home run, triples and doubles records have fallen this season — with three different players responsible.

Senior Bailey Fowler broke the home run mark with 11, and she’s driven in 39 runs. Mackenzie Warmund has recorded a school-best 13 doubles, and she leads the team with 47 hits. Madi Hecker owns the triples record with five this fall.

It should serve as no surprise, in that case, that the Jaguars have broken team records for runs (261), doubles (70), triples (24) and home runs (19) this year.

The Jaguars, 26-4, face Washington, 20-8, at 2 p.m. Friday in the Class 4 semifinals.

2. Lee’s Summit West

The Titans, 24-7, are tournament-tested, reaching the championship game in all three of their regular-season tournaments.

They allow fewer than 2 runs per game — the product of two quality options in the circle and a defense that has recorded a .970 fielding percentage this season.

Sophomore Jordan Weber has 15 victories and 188 strikeouts. Senior Daphne Plummer has another nine wins, and she’s batting .500 with 16 extra-base hits.

Sophomore Maddie Harris is the most feared hitter in the Titans’ lineup. She is batting .528 with seven homers and 35 RBIs.

Lee’s Summit West will play Troy Buchanan, 28-3, at 2 p.m. Friday in the Class 4 semifinals.

3. Smithville

While Smithville is a Class 3 program, it made a habit of playing Class 4 teams this season.

The Warriors, 21-8, attribute their playoff success to the rigors of their regular-season schedule. Despite the competition, they still put up impressive numbers.

Senior pitcher Lexie Duncan is 15-2 with a 1.79 earned run average. She has walked only 19 batters in 110 innings.

The top five hitters in the Warriors lineup — Malea Langhus, Katie Bean, Danielle White, Duncan and Grace Long — are all hitting .424 or better this season.

Smithville will take on Warrenton, 25-1, at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Three things to watch at Missouri high school state softball."