EAST PEORIA -- The Dupo Tigers' bats fell silent after a promising first inning.
The Tigers scored a run in the first inning, but they were shut out the rest of the way by Cobden pitcher Taylor Orsburn in a 5-1 loss to the defending champion Appleknockers on Friday in the semifinal of the round of the Class 1A State Softball Tournament.
"We came out on fire in that first inning, and then we just kind of fell flat,'' Dupo coach Mandy Evers said. "I don't know if it was nerves, but we didn't have the intensity that we usually have. I know they wanted it, but I don't know if the spotlight might have rattled them a little bit. We didn't play our best game.''
Orsburn allowed only two hits after the first inning. She ended up with nine strikeouts and no walks.
"We had four hits, and one of the girls said, 'I don't know if we've ever just had four hits in a game,''' Evers said. "It's disappointing because I expected us to stay on top of them the whole game, and it didn't happen.''
The Tigers (26-5) will play the Downs Tri-Valley Vikings (32-6) at 9:30 a.m. today at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria in the Class 1A third-place game.
The Appleknockers (31-4) will play the Alexis United Red Storm (30-4) at noon today in the championship game. The two teams met in the championship last year with Cobden winning 5-2 in 11 innings.
The Tigers, who were averaging 7.2 runs per game in the postseason, came out swinging.
Kylie Hofstetter hit the first pitch of the game up the middle for a single.
With one out, Jennifer Donald collected a single in almost the same spot as Hofstetter.
"I'd heard they were really good hitters, and when they came up and got those first two hits off me, I was worried a little bit,'' Orsburn said.
Kelci Hofstetter hit a grounder to the first baseman, who threw home.
Kylie Hofstetter slid hard into Cobden catcher Kayla Quertermous to score the first run of the game.
"I almost hesitated sending her, but I thought, 'If you don't do it now, you might not ever get the chance again,''' Evers said.
Donald was tagged out trying to advance to third base, and Orsburn struck out Bri Nadler to end the inning.
Orsburn settled down after that. She faced 19 batters, one over the minimum of 18, over the final six innings.
Cobden coach Nathan Emrick credited an adjustment that Orsburn made against the Dupo hitters for the improved results.
"Our game plan was to live by her dropball because that's her best pitch,'' Emrick said "At first they were crowding the plate and kind of hanging over there to hit it because they knew it was her best pitch. Once we kind of recognized that, we decided to make adjustment, go with her screwball and start living inside a little more to set up her dropball. And, once we did that, we could tell they were a little off balance.''
Cobden senior first baseman Jennifer Morrison drove in four runs for the Appleknockers with a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning and a two-run single during a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jenna Lehr hit a bloop single to right field to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
Ann Duda then hit a grounder that handcuffed Dupo first baseman Brooke Dell.
Dupo pitcher Ashley Meagher got two outs before issuing a walk to Quertermous to load the bases.
Morrison singled to right field off an 0-2 offering from Meagher to bring home two runs.
"They key to our year all year is that somebody different from our leadoff hitter to our No. 9 hitter steps up every day.'' Emrick said. "When you get those two-out scores, it's pretty demoralizing for the other team because they're right on the brink of getting out of the inning.''
In the fifth inning, Duda beat out an infield single and Orsburn singled to left field.
DaCota Knop brought in Duda with a single off the fence in left field.
Quertermous reached on an error by Meagher to load the bases for Morrison, who delivered a two-run single to center field.
Meagher surrendered nine hits, while striking out two and walking one.
The Tigers committed three errors leading to two unearned runs for the Appleknockers.
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