Marionville tops Pierce City Lady Eagles 5-2

The Pierce City Lady Eagles softball team's magnificent season came to a conclusion on Thursday with a 5-2 loss to the Marionville Lady Comet in the Missouri Class 3, Sectional playoffs on Thursday.

"It wasn't the ending we were hoping for," said Pierce City coach Darin Henderson. "We had a great season and have put in place a foundation that we can build on in the future."

Facing each other for the third time this season, the Lady Comets and Lady Eagles had multiple opportunities to take control of the game early.

Faith Strong led off the third inning with a single for Pierce City. With one out, Monica Sexton and Bailee Hayward singled to load the bases. Mackenzie Moreland then flied out to the short stop, and Strong was thrown out at the plate to end the threat.

Using the momentum generated on defense, Marionville pushed three runs across the plate in the bottom of the third. Whitney Wright highlighted the inning with a two-RBI triple.

The Lady Comets added insurance runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Pierce City got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Jade Winsea smoked a double to right field and Winsea scored on Brittany Young's one-out single.

In the sixth, Sara Stearns doubled and scored on Gabby Phillips' single. The Lady Eagles left five runners in scoring position.

"We couldn't get the clutch hit all night long," said Henderson. "You really have to credit Marionville for a good game plan. They sped us up and made us play faster than we normally do on defense. They made the plays down the stretch to win the game."

Pierce City finishes the season with a school record 23 victories.

"We have some hole to fill-in the off-season and some defensive issues to fix," said Henderson. "This team was a joy to coach this season, and this game doesn't take away from the things we accomplished."