Oct. 17, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- In the circle, Troy's Kiersten Nixon proved to be too much for Jefferson City.

But at the plate, well ... Kiersten Nixon proved to be too much for Jefferson City.

In the biggest game of the year, Nixon came up huge.

The Troy senior tossed a two-hitter and struck out 11, while collecting two hits and two RBI, as the Lady Trojans knocked out the Lady Jays 4-0 in the Class 4 sectionals Wednesday evening at Vogel Field.

"She had a great night," Lady Jays coach Zac Miller said. "We knew we had to try and get on her, but she was our nemesis --- too many strikeouts on our end, we have to do a better job than that."

Just nine days ago in the regular-season finale between the same teams, the Lady Jays struck out nine times against Nixon (19-2), but did reach her for five hits in Troy's 8-2 win.

But not on this day. And while she was blanking Jefferson City (18-9), she also did the bulk of the damage at the plate.

On the first pitch in the top of the fourth inning, Nixon ripped a home run to give Troy (24-4-1) a 1-0 lead --- and that proved to be the only run Nixon would need.

After a foul-ball sacrifice fly by Haylee McGinty made it 2-0, Nixon went from long ball to small ball in the fifth when her suicide squeeze bumped the margin to 3-0. Later in the fifth, it was another RBI squeeze by Kelsey Sachs that ended the scoring.

Mychael Jett (15-8) --- the only senior starter for the Lady Jays --- took the loss, giving up 11 hits and fanning four.

"She was grinding all game long, just like she has all season," Miller said. "Defensively, we had some miscues (two errors) and this time of year, you can't make mistakes like that and expect to go on."

Offensively, the Lady Jays could muster only a second-inning single by Olivia Wallace through the first five innings. Then in the sixth came a sequence that was this game in a nutshell.

Abi Karr smacked a double to right-center leading off the frame. A rally? Well ... three pitches later, Karr tried to advance to third on a ball in the dirt but on a bang-bang play, she was called out.

Any hint of wind in Jefferson City's sails left at that point.

"She was just hustling," Miller said. "She's only got one gear --- she'll run through a fence for you if you need her to."

This was certainly a disappointing finish for the Lady Jays, but the season was still a success. And losing only one starter --- albeit their No. 1 pitcher --- the future looks bright, indeed.

"Absolutely," Miller said. "I'm super proud of them being able to attain a goal that they made (winning the district). They never gave up, they just kept fighting."

But for now the fight is over, courtesy of Kiersten Nixon.

Loeffler's Link

Goal met, now what?
Lady Jays getting set
for rematch vs.Troy

Big day by Troy senior Nixon ends season for Lady Jays, 4-0

Jefferson City Lady Jays pitcher Mychael Jetts gets ready to snag a line drive off the bat of Bella Wilson during the third inning of Wednesday's Class 4 sectional game at Vogel Field.