Two county softball players who own single-season home run records for their schools are closing in on the career homer marks as well.
Jefferson junior Annabelle Richardson belted two round-trippers in an 8-3 loss to Fox in the North County Tournament Sept. 20. That gave her eight for the season, breaking Catryn Cattoor’s record of seven set in 2020. The next day, Richardson homered again in a 13-4 victory over Cape Girardeau Central.
That was the last time the Blue Jays (7-14 overall, 1-4 in the Jefferson County Activities Association) won a game, although Richardson homered again in an 18-7 loss to East Carter, giving her 10 this season and 14 for her career. Jefferson is mired in a seven-game losing streak, but Richardson has emerged as a leader not only at bat but in the field, where she plays first base, is the backup pitcher to Reese Humphrey and also is catching again for the first time since she was in grade school.
“I see a very different view of the field from back there,” she said with a laugh.
Richardson’s view of the opposing pitcher has been eagle-eye sharp. She had four career home runs coming into this season, but help from her dad, Pete, and private hitting instruction helped boost her power.
“It was my load and basics. It was all in my legs,” she said of the improvement.
Richardson is one of the more versatile athletes at Jefferson. She plays basketball and does archery in the winter and throws the shot put and discus for the track and field team in the spring.
Jefferson’s softball struggles are perplexing because they have three of the best hitters in the conference and were scoring runs during the losing streak, except the last three games, where the offense withered to two runs. Lia Ott leads the Blue Jays with a .435 batting average and 26 runs batted in and is second in extra base hits with 15. Chloe Burger is hitting .422 with four triples, and Richardson’s average is .406 to go with nine doubles and 24 RBIs. Jefferson can run, too; Fiona Sandbothe leads the team with 15 stolen bases.
“As a team it’s all in our heads,” Richardson said. “Our energy changes occasionally. Sometimes we have it, sometimes we don’t. We’re trying to change that.”
The Blue Jays wrap up the regular season this week at home against
De Soto on Tuesday, after the Leader deadline, and against North County today (Oct. 10). Then Jefferson will begin play in the Class 2 District 1 tournament at Chaffee. That gives Richardson at least three more games to catch Cattoor’s career mark of 17 home runs.
Richardson’s high point this fall was smashing three homers in an 18-2 victory at Cuba Sept. 17. She logged five RBIs and scored four runs.
“I remember my teammates were excited because we’ve been very close to (Cuba) every year,” Richardson said. “I remember being hyped.
“The Fox pitcher (Olivia Keith) was throwing way harder than Cuba’s. All I had to do against (Keith) was make contact. Batting average is more important than home runs.”
Up the road at Seckman (14-12 and 5-2 in the Suburban Conference Red pool this season), senior Kendall Altman bashed 10 home runs last season, tying Megan McCorkell’s 2018 single-season school record. McCorkell also holds the school record with 19 career home runs and Altman entered this season with 11.
In the Jaguars’ season-opening 9-7 win over North County, Altman hit No. 12 and in a 10-8 victory over Rockwood Summit, she did it again and looked well on her way to setting a new mark.
After hitting two homers in a 15-4 win over Wright City to lead Seckman to the Lutheran-St. Charles Tournament championship Sept. 21, Altman stood at seven on the season and 18 for her career. Seckman’s last game was a 13-7 loss to Hillsboro Oct. 3, marking the sixth straight game Altman has been held without that career-record-tying blast.
Her next two chances are both at home after deadline, against Farmington Monday and Webster Groves Wednesday. She’ll have another two opportunities before the Class 5 District 1 tournament when the Jags travel to Jackson today (Oct. 10) and Francis Howell Central Oct. 14.
In the race for the Red pool title, Northwest beat Fox 2-1 Oct. 3 in Cedar Hill to improve to 17-9 overall and 6-0 in the conference. The Lions played Red pool games against Parkway West (15-5, 3-2) and Parkway Central (4-13, 0-6) after deadline this week.
In the win over the Warriors (7-12, 0-6), Jordin Ragan pitched a complete game, scattering eight hits and striking out four. Kaylee Eddings was two-for-three with a double, and Maddie Mauzy and Macie Winfrey each had two hits for the Lions.