CLARKSVILLE, Mo. – After last week’s quarantine, the Clopton Lady Hawks dominated the visiting North Callaway Lady Thunderbirds 6-1 on Tuesday evening. Another strong performance by pitcher Shana Yates led the Lady Hawks to a big EMO Conference victory.

After a quick and scoreless first inning, Clopton’s bats came to life with two outs in the home half of the second inning. A single by Danica Graham and Madelyn Brune taking a base after being hit by a pitch set the field nicely for junior Madison Akers. The upperclassman was clutch, hitting a double that punched across two runs.  Jasmine Hammet followed with a triple to score Akers, before being stranded to end the inning.

Leading 3-0 after a big second inning, Clopton stepped on the gas, capitalizing again in the third. The Lady Hawks added four hits by Kelsey Shuford, Yates, Jeaneya Bazan, and Graham, scoring twice to push the score to 5-0.

Graham added a third hit to her evening in the sixth inning, advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Brune. Graham came across to score later in the inning, following an error by visiting catcher Lilly Schafer.

The Lady Thunderbirds scored late in the seventh inning with Jaylyn Leible advancing around the bases after a single, and two additional hits by Ryelle Schmauch and Kyanne Kellerman. North Callaway added a single run to their losing 6-1 effort, before Yates closed the door.

“We came off the quarantine this past Saturday,“ started Coach Tony Francis.

The longtime coach prompted his young group of athletes with a challenge, “Are you going to give an excuse of not being able to do anything for two weeks? Or are you going find a way, overcome mistakes and dig down deep.”

Another outstanding performance from Yates has allowed Clopton to compete this week following their unprecedented break. Yates second appearance on the rubber in the last two days displayed her grit and dominance. The Clopton junior had 12 strikeouts, and allowed only one run late in the 7th inning.

“Shana knows she’s the woman in the circle and she’s going to have to step up. She can not give in to fatigue. I think she’s taking really good steps towards that,” stated Francis.

Clopton travels next to Montgomery County for an EMO conference match-up on Thursday. First pitch is at 5:00 p.m. Find coverage of area high school sports by staying tuned to 102.1FM, listening to Eagle 102 through the KJFM Radio app, online at kjfmradio.com, or on Alexa.