After splitting their season series with Fredericktown, Northmor’s softball team faced that team again in the first round of the Division III softball tournament.

The rubber match went to the Golden Knights thanks to some timely hitting and a strong performance on the mound by Kate Kissling. The sophomore pitcher went the distance, only giving up a solo home run in the sixth inning.

“Kate made some really quality pitches to get pop-ups and to get groundouts, which is what we’ve been working with her for two years now,” said head coach Matt Wiseman. “She is really bulldogging and working hard out there and hitting her spots. She hits her spots and she has enough spin and movement that she does a good job.”

For much of Northmor’s 4-1 game, it was a pitcher’s duel between Kissling and Fredericktown’s Riley Rine. Through the first three innings, the only run scored was by the Golden Knights in the bottom of the second.

Mahaila Strobel led off the inning with a single, but had only advanced to second base by the time the Freddies recorded two outs. However, Raelyn Fulk would be able to bring her in with a run-scoring double to give Northmor an early lead.

Both teams would get runners up to second base in the third inning and top of the fourth, but the score remained 1-0 until Strobel came back to the plate to open the bottom of the fourth and deposited a Fredericktown pitch over the fence for a home run.

Wiseman felt his players had good approaches at the plate during the game.

“Situationally, they did a nice job hitting tonight and came up with some big hits,” he said. “We worked all week on having our approach towards right field. I think that showed. We had four or five fly outs to right field that were well-hit balls. We just missed them a little bit. Mahaila Strobel hit a big solo home run for us to give us an extra run to go up 2-0.”

Fredericktown threatened in the top of the fifth, putting their first two batters on base. However, Kissling would buckle down and record three straight outs to maintain her team’s two-run lead.

However, Fredericktown would cut into the Golden Knight lead in the sixth when Jesenia Montalvo smacked a two-out home run to make it a 2-1 contest. Wiseman noted that the Freddies were a dangerous team to face in the postseason.

“Their record may not indicate they are a good team, but last year, they were a regional finalist or regional semifinalist,” he said. “We knew they were going to hit, so we had to hit with them and we had to play good defense and we did that.”

And they also got a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to get a bit of breathing room. Kissling drew a walk to open the frame and courtesy runner Shelby Cooper advanced to second on a ground ball. McKenna VanDyke then cracked a triple to bring run one across and would then score on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Cantrell to give Northmor a three-run lead.

Kissling then recorded three straight outs to give the Golden Knights their 15th win — a new program record.

“Our season record for team wins, 15 wins,” said Wiseman. “They came ready to go today. They hit the ball. I liked their approach at the plate. We did just enough and then we got to her a little bit late with a big insurance run or two in the bottom of the sixth.”

Next up for Northmor will be another KMAC foe in Centerburg, who won the conference this year. In their previous two contests, the Trojans came out on top by scores of 6-5 and 7-3, so Wiseman knows his team will have to play a good game to make it to another district semifinal.

“We’ve got to go down there and we’ve got to score early,” he said. “Their pitcher is pretty good. She’s going to be an all-conference kid, I’m sure. She’s probably going to be an all-district kid. If we go down and get some runs early, we’ve got the two pitchers we’ll throw at them Wednesday and we’ll see who’s on and we’ll go with that.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS