Both Stanberry and Gallatin are going to state in softball, the first time ever that two teams in the area are going. The game created a change in the football schedule. The football game between Worth County and Stanberry was moved up to October 31st at 7:30 pm, since Stanberry’s first game will be Friday, when the first round of football districts are normally played. The junior high basketball games between Worth County and Stanberry will be October 31st at 4:15 instead of 5 pm.
Stanberry had come into districts with a nine game losing streak. But the streak was misleading, as the Bulldogs had scheduled a bunch of bigger schools down the stretch to prepare for the postseason. Their losses were to Albany (27 wins), Pattonsburg (21 wins), NEN (15 wins), Oak Park (Class 5), West Platte (16 wins, Class 2), Savannah (21 wins, Class 3), Platte Valley (rivalry game), Lafayette (Class 3), and Benton (19 wins, Class 3). They immediately caught fire in districts with a 13-3 win over Maysville and a 4-3 rivalry win over King City.
North Andrew had beaten Northeast Nodaway 5-4 in the district semifinals there. The Cardinals showed that their win over the Bluejays was no accident as they gave Stanberry everything they wanted. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in the District Championship for the first seven innings. Finally, Brea Jenson hit a walkoff home run, her first hit of the game, to give Stanberry a 2-1 win. Alyssa Wallace got the win, giving up four hits and striking out five.
That put Stanberry in a quarterfinal match with Princeton. The Blue Tigers beat North Harrison 6-4, then needed extra innings to beat Pattonsburg 3-2. Albany was the heavy favorite coming into the final matchup sporting 27 wins, but Princeton beat them 7-2 to set up a match with Stanberry.
There have been changes in how MSHSAA assigns teams and there are now more cooperative franchises. Back in 2017, when North Harrison made it to state, they had to win two games, against Platte Valley and Maysville, in order to get to state. But Stanberry only had to win one.
In the quarterfinal game, Alyssa Wallace was even more dominant, only giving up two hits in a complete game 2-0 win. Brea Jenson showed her blow against North Andrew was no accident, hitting another home run in the win.
In the meantime, Polo had been down for much of the year, but gave Gallatin everything they wanted before falling 1-0 in their district final. Gallatin subsequently beat La Plata 5-4 to make it to state.
Stanberry will play St. Elizabeth on Friday at 11 am at the Killian Sports Complex in Springfield. It is the same facility where North Harrison won third in state in 2017. Gallatin will play Paris at 11 am there as well. The third place game will be Friday, November 1st at 3 pm. The championship game will be Saturday, November 2nd at 10 am.
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