Eagles’ Cinderella Season Ends in Springfield: Grain Valley Falls Short in State Semifinal, Finishes 30-8

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News

One by one, members of the Grain Valley High School softball team walked off their charter bus late Thursday night.

A season that had provided a lifetime memories had come to an end. 

The clock finally struck midnight on a Cinderella-like season for the Grain Valley High School softball team.

The Eagles lost to Columbia Rock Bridge 8-6 in the semifinal game and were then no-hit by Marlee Steiner in the third-place game as Lindbergh picked up a 5-0 victory Thursday at Meador Park in Springfield, Mo.

Grain Valley finished with a 30-8 record. 

Rock Bridge scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take an 8-4 lead. The Eagles' late-inning magic never materialized as Grain Valley scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, to cut its deficit to 8-6.

Sydnee Wagner had an RBI single and Morgan Hart walked with the bases loaded to account for the first two runs.

The Eagles had the bases loaded and one out when Hayden Bush was called in from the bullpen.

Earlier in the game she hit a three-run homer off Jones and added an RBI single in the top of the seventh.

She retired the next two Eagles on a strikeout and ground out to second base to save the win for starter  Lauren Christ.

"We've had so many late-inning rallies, and I expected one today, too," said Jones, after unloading her suitcase off the team bus. "But it didn't happen.

"It was a good bus ride home. A lot of tears, but we spent a lot of time reminiscing. It's going to be a while before the sting goes away because our group of girls are special."

Long after his team had departed from the high school, coach Flip Courter compared the semifinal loss to the meeting between the two teams during the regular season.

"We got them (8-7 in eight innings) early in the season, and that game was similar to today," Courter said. "They hit a two-run homer in the first inning in both games, and then we came back to take a 3-2 lead in each game."

Rock Bridge's Ava Bush hit the two-run homer Friday in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the inning, Kenzie Rust lead off with her first out-of-the park home run and Jones later hit a two-run double to give The Eagles a 3-2 lead.

"But after that, we made two many mistakes to beat a good team like (26-10) Rock Bridge," the coach added. "We made a couple of mistakes and Rock Bridge took advantage of them to score three big runs in the top of the seventh.

"Then, we score two runs and have the bases loaded, but just didn't get the big hit we needed.

"I'll be honest with you, today was tough. This is such a special team, and there were a lot of tears. Our girls were still crying in the dugout when we were playing Lindbergh."

The 6-foot-4 Steiner stood tall in the spotlight in the third-place game as she struck out 10 and was three-for-three with two RBI at the plate.

"She pretty much did it all for them," Courter said. "As great as she is in softball, she's going to Missouri to play volleyball. She's just a great athlete."

Madison Rust reached first base on an error against Steiner. Rust was the only Eagles player to reach first base."
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Grain Valley's Molly Jones walks off the team bus following the Eagles' 8-6 and 5-0 losses at the Class 5 final four in Springfield Thursday afternoon. Photo credit: Bill Althaus