Blue Springs South tops Francis Howell to win Missouri Class 5 softball championship

Jaguars rebound from loss in semifinals a year ago to win title

Nate Latsch photo

By Nate Latsch

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Abby Wilhelm knew that the first time through the lineup she and her Blue Springs South softball teammates probably weren’t going to have their best at-bats.

That proved to be the case in the Missouri Class 5 championship game on Friday afternoon at Killian Stadium Field. But once the Jaguars got going, they couldn’t stop.

Wilhelm, a junior second baseman, sparked the offense with a two-run home run in the fourth inning and Blue Springs South rolled over Francis Howell 10-2 to claim its first softball championship since winning back-to-back Class 4 titles in 2018 and 2019.

“We knew that our first at-bat wasn’t going to be the best,” Wilhelm said. “We had already discussed it. We were like, we just have to get past it and once we got past it we were going to start hitting. I think that once Ella Westhoff got on, it just started us all going and we just couldn’t stop.”

Westhoff, a junior center fielder who came up with a big catch in the second inning to thwart a potential Francis Howell rally, recorded South’s first hit with a leadoff single in the top of the fourth.

After a sacrifice bunt, Wilhelm blasted an opposite-field two-run home run to right to open the scoring. Then, with two outs, junior catcher Mya Bristow smacked another opposite-field two-run home run to right field to make it 4-0.

“Abby getting that one over was huge and just really got us going,” Blue Springs South coach Kristina Williams said. “Then Mya coming back later on in the inning with the other one. Just to see her get ahold of one was really great to see. I think after that they felt like, alright, this is something we can definitely do the rest of the time.”

Blue Springs South (33-2), which ended the season with a nine-game winning streak, had 11 different players record hits as part of their 14-hit performance.

“One thing that makes this team so special, they are truly a team – they don’t depend on one person to get the job done, they depend on each other,” Williams said.

Wilhelm, Westhoff and sophomore first baseman Ava Wilmes led the offense with two hits apiece. Wilhelm had a team-high three RBIs and Bristow added two RBIs.

“We just started making some adjustments at the plate,” Williams said. “The girls felt good about their first at-bats, even though (Howell pitcher Lorin Boutte) was on fire. She threw great. I think she struck out like seven of our first 10 batters or something. But they still felt really good about their at-bats and just felt like they were going to make an adjustment and they were able to do that the second time through.”

Francis Howell (28-7) pitcher Lorin Boutte struck out seven batters in four innings before leaving the game with what appeared to be an injury. She allowed four runs on four hits.

The Vikings scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings but couldn’t generate much offense against Blue Springs South junior right-handed pitcher Madalyn Duvall, who allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one in a complete-game effort.

“We knew that no matter what Maddy Duvall was going to get the job done on the mound and our hitters were going to back her up,” Wilhelm said.

After coming up short in a 15-11 loss to Francis Howell Central in the semifinals a year ago, the Jaguars celebrated their third state title in five seasons.

“It’s undescribable,” Wilhelm said. “We worked for this from Day 1 so it’s just nice to see that everything that we’ve done has paid off. Last year we didn’t get the ending that we wanted, but it feels even better knowing that we fell short last year and we didn’t this year.”

Blue Springs South vs. Francis Howell Missouri Class 5 softball championship

Photos from Gordon Radford