It’s a Monday afternoon at the Fort Osage ballpark, the sun peeking behind the clouds giving warmth to the fall air. Players from both teams placed in the stands and soaking in the nice weather, a perfect day for softball. Senior Kyra McIntosh steps into the batter’s box in the top of the 3rd with a fresh count, and a 3-0 lead vs her schools hometown rival, William Chrisman. She carefully watches the first pitch go high and right. After stepping out of the box, she takes a deep breath and a practice swing to stay locked in. She gathers herself, then steps forward to take on the next pitch. William Chrismans pitcher reads the signal from her teammate, gives a slight head nod, and begins to wind up. One quick arm swing and next thing she knows a fast ball is headed straight down the pipe for McIntosh, she realizes this is her moneyball. She swings her hips, twists her back foot, and doesn’t take her eye off the ball as she drives it to left center, clearing the fence for an Indians home run. 

This game turned out to be yet another win for the Indians, who finished the 2020 season with a record of 15-13. Fort Osage head softball coach Kelly Sullivan knew what her girls had to do in order to win their games. 

“Our success has come when we play solid defense, and also being aggressive at the plate offensively,“ Coach Sullivan stated in an email.

Their combination of aggression and patience in the box is the reason they finished with an outstanding 19 home runs and 190 RBI’s. A key contributor to their success was McIntosh, who was a leader on the team in hits with 34 on the season. Not to mention she is also responsible for almost half the team’s home runs this year. 

“I love hitting home runs,” McIntosh said in an email, “Everyone will say it’s an amazing feeling, but I was glad to hit one in the Chrisman game because that got our team momentum going so we could continue scoring and end in a win.”

This success she was having was due to her offseason workout regiment. 

“Off season for me is playing for my competitive team in the summer and fall,” McIntosh said in an email. “Lots of hitting drills and lots and lots of running this year because of COVID. I had to run a few miles every week as a challenge and that was not fun but it had to be done to keep in shape.”

Her work ethic is evident and it shows on the field. Junior Kiley Mickey is a leader on the team in PO’s with 31 on the season. She also had a fielding percentage of .865. She was very happy with the group of girls the team had this year. 

“My favorite part of this year’s group was how we all bonded,” Mickey said in an email. “In my three years of playing high school ball this was the closest we’ve ever been.”  

Their chemistry and trust in each other played a huge part in the team having a .353 batting average. Mickey had high hopes going into her third season.

“I had lots of goals, but my main goal was to be a role model for the underclassmen on and off the field,” Mickey said in an email.

The team ended the season with a 13-5 loss to Blue Springs in the Class 5 District 7 tournament.

McIntosh’s homerun against William Chrisman was a turning point for the girls that game. After clearing the fence, she rounded the bases, high fived her 3rd base coach, and greeted her teammates at home plate.