WELDON SPRING — Shelby Seiler tried to shut out everything.
The Eureka High junior second baseman fixated only on the softball in Monday’s showdown at Francis Howell.
“I don’t think about the score or the situation,” Seiler said. “Just what I have to do to make the play.”
Seiler turned in a defensive masterpiece to help the Wildcats to a 13-6 win in the nonleague affair in southern Weldon Spring.
Eureka (13-4) won its sixth game in a row as it tunes up for postseason play in a few weeks.
The Wildcats banged out 14 hits and received key at-bats from the entire lineup.
But in a game that featured seven errors, six from Howell, it was Seiler’s range that helped change the complexion of the wild contest.
Seiler lunged to her right and fully extended her arm to snare a line drive off the bat of Howell’s Elia Cabo that appeared headed to the gap. Seiler calmly whipped the ball to first to double off a runner for a momentum-killing double play in the sixth inning.
Eureka was clinging to an 8-6 lead at the time and had two of its best hitters coming up, including standout catcher Adelle Metz, who recently gave a verbal commitment to attend Mizzou.
“Obviously, the play itself was huge,” Eureka senior slugger Addison Schneider said. “The momentum that it created was even more important.
“It shifted everything back to our side.”
Schneider paced the attack with three singles and three RBI.
Eureka used the thrill from Seiler’s extra effort to plate five runs in the top of the seventh. That salvo nailed down the triumph.
“She’s out there because in addition to her bat, she’s so good defensively,” Eureka veteran coach Mark Mosley said. “For her to make that play, and then have the heads up to get the out at first, that was a big deal.”
Seiler, who played on the JV level last season, was used as a late inning replacement during the first two weeks of this season.
Mosley liked her work ethic, so he gave her a starting assignment.
Seiler has been a fixture in the lineup since early September.
“I realized that I had to take advantage of my shot,” Seiler said.
The Wildcats scored in six of the seven innings with four crooked-number frames.
Schneider came up with run-scoring singles in the first and third to kick-start the attack.
“My goal is always to extend through the ball,” Schneider said. “It’s been working.”
Seniors Haley Deakin and Tanner Cantwell had two hits each of the winners. Leadoff hitter Gracie Mazzola, who is joining her sister at Washington University of the Big Ten Conference, reached base three times.
Madeline Rakey, the No. 9 hitter in the batting order, snapped a 4-all tie with a run-scoring single in the third inning. Alina Logush followed with an RBI single and the Wildcats were off and running.
“I felt our girls did a great job in putting the ball in play,” Mosley said. “They did the job in situations where they needed to come through. Like a fly ball or moving runners over.”
Eureka has outscored its opponents 52-27 during its current winning streak.
The Wildcats carry high hope into a wide-open postseason where the hottest team may be the most likely to advance.
“Lately we’ve been putting all the pieces together,” Schneider said. “Right now, our focus is just on winning as many games as we can and playing together at the right time.”
Both teams refrained from using their ace pitchers with a host of league games coming up for both schools.
The Vikings (10-6) have lost three of four after a 9-3 beginning to the campaign. They struggled defensively on Monday.
“We have a long week and there’s time to correct those things,” Howell coach Lexi Romeril said.
Metz ripped a long home run to left for the Vikings. Maci Johnson had three hits.
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Steve Overbey | Post-Dispatch
High school sports reporter
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