Staley wins Missouri Class 4 softball state championship

The Staley Falcons rode the arm of Alle Pattillo to their first appearance in the Missouri Class 4 softball state championship game.

A day later, the bats took care of the rest.

Staley hit three home runs in a 10-6 victory Saturday against Marquette to win its first state softball championship in program history.

Jordan Jenkins, Jen Harvey and Alyssa Ramirez provided the big blasts.

“That’s not our usual path to victory,” Staley coach Jairus Tapp said in a phone interview. “We haven't hit a lot of home runs this season. But once again, these girls came up big in the big situations.”

It wasn’t the rout the score may have indicated. Staley, 27-6, actually trailed 3-0 after the first inning, but the Falcons responded with four runs in the second and five more in the third — aided by five Marquette errors.

Harvey and Ramirez homered in the second, and Jenkins homered in the third.

“I think we all trusted each other that we would pick each other up,” said Pattillo, who was credited with the pitching win. “If we got down, we knew we could come back on offense. If we needed it, we knew we could hold them on defense. That's exactly how it happened all year.”

Pattillo allowed six runs on six hits in six innings, striking out four.

Staley collected 10 hits, including three from Ramirez, two from Harvey and two from leadoff hitter Lindsey Gilbert.

Class 2: Lathrop 10, Fatima 3

Lathrop won the Missouri Class 2 state championship Saturday with a 10-3 victory against Fatima, the defending state champions.

After scoring just once in a semifinal victory, Lathrop exploded for 10 runs in the first five innings. That was more than enough for starting pitcher Brooke Huitt, who threw a complete game and struck out 12.

Jacque Gentzell and Arizona Gallagher hit home runs for Lathrop, which finished 27-3.

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Staley wins Missouri Class 4 softball state championship."