BY ROSS MARTIN

The ball hung in the air and drifted in the stiff wind but didn't look threatening.

By the time the ball hit the ground in among three Platte County fielders, Webb City senior center fielder Alyssa Jennings had time to pull into second base with an unlikely RBI double. The two-out run in the bottom of the first provided just the jolt of energy the Cardinals wanted after a long road trip north for Saturday's Class 4 semifinal at Platte County High School.

Webb City played as the home team thanks to the pre-game coin flip and ended up scoring in five of six innings on the way to a dominating 10-2 victory that sends the Cardinals to the state championship game next weekend.

"I knew I had to get the ball (in play); I knew I had to score my teammate, and that's what I did," said Jennings, who also singled in a three-run third inning that broke the game open. "We were hyped the whole bus ride. We were jammingurmusic; we out to our music; were ready to go the second we got on that bus."

Webb City (27-5) played in its 11th semifinal in program history and ended Platte County's 15-game win st T a ( 2 WF at in streak in emphatic fashion. The Cardinals are seeking third state championship 2004, 2007) when they play Webster Groves (15-2) in Friday's Class 4 title game Killian Softball Complex Springfield.

"I'm so excited," said Jennings. "I moved here my sophomore year, and all I wanted to do was make it to state and here we are."

Webb City senior pitcher Haidyn Berry struck out the first five batters she faced and flirted with a shutout until Platte County came up with an RBI double in each of the sixth and seventh innings. She allowed six hits and a walk while striking out nine.

Platte County senior pitcher Emma Koeneke surrendered nine runs total — five earned — before being taken out down 9-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Five of the Cardinals' 10 hits were for extra bases, and they also worked four walks.

"The girls have done a good job of adjusting all year long, and I think they just adjusted to the pitching and were able to find good pitches, have good pitch selection and find pitches they could drive," Webb City coach Shauna Friend said.

Webb City's hitters were patient from the start. After Koeneke hit junior Peyton Hawkins with two outs in the first, Jennings found a triangle of open grass in shallow right field with a popup for her unlikely double to put the Cardinals up 1-0 with Hawkins easily scoring from first.

In the third, Webb City junior leadoff hitter Emma Welch led off with a bunt single.

Berry and Hawkins followed with doubles, but a strong defensive play from Platte County right fielder Grace Heater allowed the Pirates to cut down Berry at the plate to prevent one run. Hawkins' RBI double made it 2-0, and after Jennings singled, Cardinals junior catcher Kaylyn Gilbert ripped a double down the right field line to score two more and make it 4-0.

"It was great to see a lot of hard-hit balls, and you know, they're just coming together at the right time," Friend said. "It was good to see stringing hits in a row, which was good for us."

Webb City flirted with the run-rule in both the fifth and the sixth but ended up needing to go the distance. Welch doubled in a pair in the fifth to make it 9-0, and junior Shea'lee Kelly's RBI single with one out in the sixth made it 10-1.