Lorelai Kellner and the Wright City softball team got off to a fantastic start on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, there wasn’t much to cheer about after the junior pitcher’s first-inning home run as Wright City dropped the Class 3 District 3 championship game by an 11-1 score to host Winfield in six innings.
“It felt great,” said Kellner of her home run in the top of the first inning. “We needed to get on the board early since we were the visitors. We wanted to get ahead, and we did.”
Kellner and Wright City (15-14) held the lead going into the bottom of the third before Winfield broke through.
The Warriors led 2-1 after three innings and increased that advantage to 7-1 after the fourth. The host then ended the game with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Two unfortunate themes helped the 11-run barrage.
First, the Wildcats committed seven fielding errors; second, the team struggled offensively, laying off Winfield pitcher Ava Dixon's high fastball.
“The first couple of innings, other than Lorelai’s bomb, we were chasing,” Coach Fred Ross said. “That wasn’t our game plan. You don’t want to chase it, but when you see it in real life, and it’s coming … she had real good movement on it. She’s one of the better pitchers we’ve seen this year. I thought we had a better approach; we were all making contact, but they were still getting us out.”
Wright City’s only other hit was a sixth-inning double to right field from catcher Harper Martin.
Kellner suffered the loss for the Wildcats.
The game marked the program's first district championship game since 2019.
“I’m really proud of this team for making it this far,” senior Ava Swearingen said. “We proved that we have the ability to make adjustments; we just made them too late today.”
Holt sweeps Warrenton out of volleyball district – Playing in a Class 4 District 4 quarterfinal at St. Dominic, Warrenton ended its season with a loss.
Holt beat Warrenton in three sets, 25-13, 25-9, 25-16.
The Warriors ended the season with an 11-16-5 record.
Wright City begins district volleyball play today – The Class 3 District 6 tournament opens for the Wildcats in Fulton today.
Wright City (18-8), the No. 2 seed, will take on host Fulton at 6:30 p.m. for a chance to advance to the district championship, slated for next Monday at 6 p.m., against the winner of Borgia and Mexico.
