A week after losing by 10 runs, the Poplar Bluff softball team turn the tables Tuesday on Kelly.
Emily Burke provided a two-out RBI single, Rebekah Watkins struck out six and the Lady Mules wiggled out of a seventh-inning jam for a 1-0 win at Bacon Park.
"We were a lot more focused and we were a lot more ready to play this today," Burke said. "And it's our home field, so we needed to win."
Poplar Bluff (11-9) picked up a second straight one-run win at home after losing 11-1 at Kelly (11-9) on Sept. 20.
Watkins scattered seven hits, walked none and left eight runners stranded for Poplar Bluff's third shutout of the season.
"We set our pitches differently and our defense was ready for that," Lady Mules coach Julie Gambill said. "They were prepared to play the ball off the bat where it was being pitched."
Watkins lived on the inside corner of the plate and got help from her defense in the final inning.
Kelly's No. 7 hitter, Morgan LeDure led off the seventh with an infield hit, beating Poplar Bluff's second baseman in a foot race to the bag where the two collided. Jessica Worth followed with a swinging bunt in front of the plate for a single and Emily Grojean attempted to bunt the runners up.
However, third baseman Courtney Campbell threw to third base and shortstop Courtney Raulston for the first out. Watkins then got consecutive flyouts to left field, the final out coming on an over-the-shoulder basket catch by Karisa Coleman.
"We needed that play in the last inning where Campbell fielded the bunt and threw to third to get the lead runner," Gambill said. "I think that was a solid play.
"She was prepared because she knew the ball was going to be hit to her because of the game plan we had."
Poplar Bluff scored in the fourth after consecutive one-out singles by the heart of the Lady Mules' lineup.
Randi Montgomery dropped a fly ball into center field for a single and Ally Brooks followed with a smash past first base. Montgomery went from first to third on the single but Brooks was later caught stealing second.
On the next pitch, Burke singled up the middle to score Montgomery.
"Coach kind of scared me into hitting it actually," Burke said. "She said, 'You're a senior, you need to step up at the plate and hit the ball."
Said Gambill, "That was a clutch hit."
After scoring runs in bunches early in the season, the Lady Mules have scored just 13 over the last nine games.
"We've been practing a lot on hitting because that's pretty much been our downfall a lot lately," said Burke, who also reached on an error in the second inning.
"It's pretty much hit or miss depending on the day."
Kelly pitcher Kristi Brucker struck out two and walked none while allowing five hits in six innings.
Montgomery was 2-for-3, including a first-inning double in which she was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
Elizabeth Boyher led off the fifth with a single but was thrown out trying to take an extra base on a sacrifice bunt. Nobody was at third when Boyher took off from second but Kelly's left fielder and the throw beat her to the bag.
The Lady Mules committed an error in the second but Watkins struck out the next hitter and got a groundout.
"I've been trying to coach these girls into being mentally tough and focused," Gambill said. "Don't let your emotions take over the game. Put it behind you."
Kelly put the leadoff hitter on to start four innings but the Lady Mules bounced back each time.
Watkins followed lead off hits in the first, fourth and fifth innings with strike outs before retiring the next two hitters in order.
Brucker led off the fourth with a double and a one-out bunt put the runner on third before a ground out to Burke at first ended the threat one pitch later.
"Pitch location really was the central theme," Gambill said. "(Watkins) delivered them and she deserves some redemption today."