Ashley Parks - 2nd Team All-Conference / All-District 

Mara Worley - 2nd Team All-Conference

Michelle Boyer - All-Conference Honorable Mention

The St. Louis Stingers went 5-0 this past weekend and in the process took first place in the USSSA October 17/18 National Qualifier Tournament.  The Stingers scored 43 runs in the five games and gave up 7 runs to its opponents.  The Stingers defense was outstanding from all positions including top performances from Michelle and Ashley at pitching.  Mara caught all 5 games and gave up no stolen bases.  The offense was electric!  Anna sent a ball close to 300 feet and became the first Stinger to hit a dinger in the 2009/2010 season!  Had the games been played on fields with 200' fences, the coaches concluded that there would have been 6 homeruns from Abby, Anna (3), Linsey and Mara.  Mary came up with the key hit of the weekend that blew open the championship game.  The defensive play(s) of the tournament were awarded to Sierra as she was given the team trophy.  Amanda was by far the most solid defensive player for the weekend and received the highest praise award possible (from the competition).  She was singled out from a player on the second place team (of the tournament) as the best short stop she had ever seen (but we already knew that)!!!  Amanda, that's really cool - that doesn't happen very often!  The Stingers were back to their old crazy ways stealing over 25 bases in the weekend (even Linsey).  

The team was happy to see Haley back in uniform after sustaining a serious injury to her knee back in early July.

Emily, we missed you but you're going to state for High School - Good Luck girl!!

The Stingers are off to a little Skyzone battle this upcoming weekend.  Then they are back in action in a few weeks for their final fall tournament.

Great start ladies!

Stingers Coaches 

PREP SOFTBALL: Lancers still excel in league play in reloading season

By Mike Elder

Even in a 'down' year there is still something very positive going on with the Lafayette High softball team.

Depite having an 11-11 overall record this year, the Lancers, who have won a record eight state titles, are still in position to win the Suburban West Conference title heading into this week's play. Coach Scott DeNoyer's team was 5-0 in league games going into Monday's game with 4-1 Oakville.

"We're building confidence," said DeNoyer, whose team has won seven of its last 11 games after a rough start. "Of late, we've been doing exceptionally well. Timely hits, good fielding and solid pitching are what have gotten us to the top of the standings."

A lot of the solid pitching has come from Ashley Parks. Despite being a freshman, she's posted a 9-5 record, a 3.53 earned run average and 47 strikeouts in 93.3 innings pitched.

"She's our go-to pitcher," said DeNoyer. "She's become confident that she can compete at this level. She's willing to take on and challenge anybody."

Parks is not the same as former Lancer superstar pitcher Meghan Lambert who helped lead Lafayette to a state title two years ago. Lambert moved on to Northwestern University after an outstanding prep career.

"She was a big-time power pitcher," said DeNoyer of Lambert. "Anne Parks is more of a crafty pitcher. She concentrates on mixing up her speeds and hitting spots."

Because Parks is not a big strikeout pitcher, the area team has needed solid glovework to win. DeNoyer said he's gotten that from players such as senior shortstop Liz Desloge, junior center fielder Dana Lawson, catcher Mara Worley and third baseman Mariah Furman.

"With championship-caliber teams, you have to build them up the middle," said DeNoyer. "We have three kids who have been there. Dana brings the numbers and has a lot of experience under her belt."

Lawson leads the team in hitting with a batting average of .418 and is far and away the squad's top run scorer with 24. Other key offensive performers have been Desloge, who is hitting .339 with 12 runs batted in, and Worley, who is batting .306 with 12 RBI.

DeNoyer said the Lancers have benefitted from being a team that others sometimes look past. Lafayette is not the bully on the block this season.

"It's not bad being an underdog," said DeNoyer. "We try to take advantage of that. It's always fun doing things other people say you can't do."

Lafayette will begin district play in a couple of weeks. The other teams in the district they'll be battling include St. Joe's, Marquette, Ladue, Parkway West and Gateway Tech.

"We're expecting to go into district strong, confident and with high expectations of trying to uphold our tradition," said DeNoyer. "Once you get to that point a lot of crazy things can happen and our opponents hopefully will underestimate us."

PREP SOFTBALL: Boyer helps Panthers hunt down Fox
Freshman pitches a gem in Mehlville's 3-2 win

Mehlville softball manager Bob Kern called it a typical Michelle Boyer pitching performance.

Boyer, who is just a freshman, pitched a nine-inning complete game Wednesday as the Panthers avenged a loss to Fox in the Suburban South-West Conference Tournament, winning 3-2 at Mehlville.

Fox had runners on base in every inning but only two were able to score off Boyer, who struck out only three, none after the fourth inning.

"I think that Michelle has the type of stuff somewhere down the line to be able to dominate games," Kern said. "But right now what we want her to do is throw strikes and keep us in the game."

She has been able to do that in her first handful of varsity starts.

"I just go out there and try to get three outs the best way I can," said Boyer, who has been pitching since she was six.

There were certainly some adventures for the Panthers against the Warriors, who had scored 11 runs against Mehlville in a game in which Boyer did not pitch in the tournament.

Fox left runners on second and third in both the second and third inning without scoring. The Warriors scored their only run of regulation in the fourth but stranded a runner in scoring position in the sixth and left two on and had another thrown out at the plate in the seventh inning.

Fox had the leadoff runner on in the eighth and she eventually reached third base. But, once again, Boyer got out of the jam with a groundball.

The Warriors would take the lead in the top of the ninth inning on doubles by Courtney Durst and Tory Ellis but they again stranded a pair of runners in scoring position. Boyer retired Kayla Meier on a grounder to second. Meier had three hits in the game.

"It seems like Michelle has the ability to bear down when there are runners on base," Kern said. "She gets the strike out or the grounder back to the mound with a runner on third and one out. She has that knack as a freshman. She is doing an outstanding job."

Boyer also got the bat going for the first time this year as she had three hits, including an infield hit in the bottom of the ninth inning after Fox had taken the lead. That scored Kirsten Rogles who led off the inning with a single. She moved to second on a sacrifice by Corel Hezel. Another freshman, Jenna Parrott, singled to right with Rogles moving to third.

Boyer then tied the game with her infield hit. Molly Roesch, who is a two-time all-state player, struck out for the second time late in the game with the winning run on third. Jessica Tod walked on four pitches to load the bases.

Meggin Werner, who has already had a pair of four RBI games this season, came through with an infield hit of her own for the game-winning RBI as she barely beat the throw to first from Fox shortstop Ellis.

"It was exciting coming up in that kind of situation with the game on the line," said Werner. "It was a close play but I was safe. I wanted to go home at that point, but only if it was a win."

Fox would leave 11 runners on base and had a couple of others thrown out on the bases, and, in one instance, at the plate.

"I really try to pitch the same no matter the situation," Boyer said. "I try to pitch the same the whole game."

It was a frustrating loss for the Warriors, who had won the consolation championship of the Suburban Conference Tournament with wins over Parkway West, Mehlville and Lafayette.

"We just did not play our best game today," Warrior manager Terri Williams said. "We are still searching for that best game. We made some mental mistakes today and just did not come through in the clutch. Their pitcher did a good job out there."

The Stingers closed out their season by taking second in the NAFA Nationals (16u) this past weekend.  The Stingers won their first 6 games and then lost the champtionship game to the SLAM.  Congrats to the Stingers on a great season.  The Stingers ended the season with a record of 66-37-5.  The Stingers played the entire season at 16/18u except during travel tournaments where they played 14u.  The Stingers would like to thank the coaching staff for their tireless dedication to the program.  Without you this doesn't work.  The Stingers would also like to thanks the girls and their parents for their support to the program as this is really each family's program that happens to go by a common name. 

The Stingers will enter their 10th season in 2010!  Keep it up ladies! 

Last night the Stingers had the time of their lives by having a one on one session with Jessica Mendoza, the greatest softball hitter to ever play the game. The eleven girls of the Stingers listened to Jessica's presentation and had a question/answer session. Many topics came up to challenge the Stinger players to build for the future. Afterwards, the girls were treated to autographs and pictures. On behalf of the coaching staff of the Stingers, we would like to thank Jessica for playing a part in the Stingers organization!

The Stingers 94 are 43-26-5 so far this year.  While the Stingers are 14u, they have played all local games at either 16 or 18u.    

The St. Louis Stingers tied for 5th place this past weekend by going 2-3 in the 16u NSA World Qualifier tournament in St. Louis.  The Stingers were in an extremely tough pool and ended up going 1-2 in pool play.  The Stingers started off strong by beating the Patriots 6-3 (Patriots won the 16 team tournament), then lost to the Esprit 7-1 and the Doom 3-2. 

The Stingers then faced the Fever Michael team and won 11-4 and then were eliminated by the Spirt Red team (the runner up team in the tournament) losing 12-6.  The girls played solid ball all weekend.  The Stingers record for 2009 is 21-13-3. 

The St. Louis Stingers are excited to announce that Jessica Mendoza will hold a private session with the Stingers on June 15 to discuss the mental side of softball and what it takes to be a pinnacle star of this sport.

 Thanks Jessica and we look forward to your visit!

The St. Louis Stingers visited the southern softball world for the third straight year and ended Saturday's play with a 2-2 record before the heavy rains came and washed out play on Sunday.  The Stingers lost their first game 1-0 on an outstanding pitching performance by Michelle B.  The Stingers just couldn't figure out how to hit the pitching of the Tennessee Stars pitcher.  In the second game the Stinger bats exploded and the Stingers won 10-0 against the Stealers from Indiana.  In the third game, the Stingers beat Team Worth from Nashville in a perfectly executed game by the score of 2-1.  The Stingers ended the night with a 4-3 loss to the Tennessee Ball Hawks.  The main highlight of the day came with the 15 minute video presentation as prepared by Coach Harper and his Stinger Bee Production Company.  The video highlighted several Stinger moments and a look back on memory lane for the girls and coaches.  Thanks Coach Harper!!

The Stingers are now 19-10-3 for 2009. 

After studying game photos and watching countless hours of game tape, the Stinger coaching staff came to the conclusion that maybe some of the team's baserunning woes could be attributed to vision problems. In an unprecedented move, head coach Dave Parks enlisted the help of the Gateway Opthamalogy Treatment Center for Hopeful Athletes (GOTCHA) to test his theory. Medical specialists confirmed that poor vision indeed was hampering the teams ability to steal bases. In an amazing act of kindness, GOTCHA clinicians agreed to donate special corrective lenses to the St. Louis Stingers softball team. After an on-site eye exam at the Stingers practice, the girls had no problems seeing when to leave the base as it was pitched.  The Stingers would like to thank GOTCHA for their support!  

The St. Louis Stingers won the 16u Jamestown Indoor tournament this past weekend by posting a 4-1 record.  The Stingers started off the weekend with a 13-0 win over the St. Louis Flash and then lost a heartbreaker 5-4 against the Midwest Sluggers from Iowa.  The Stingers had their work cut out for them on Sunday.  They started the day off with a 6-2 victory over the Overland Park Stealers then had to face the #1 seed from pool two - the Iowa Wolfpack.  The Wolfpack were undefeated until they faced the Stingers.  The Stingers beat the Wolfpack 6-3 to advance to the finals.  The Stingers got a chance to avenge their earlier loss to the Sluggers and in ITB, the Stingers prevailed 5-2.  The Stingers are now 13-5-3 for 2009. 

The Stingers would like to thank Mary G for coming out and helping us this weekend.  Oh and by the way Mary, nice dinger!

Congrats ladies on a well played tournament. 

The St. Louis Stingers are the 2005 NSA Missouri State Champions!! After going 4-0 in the Missouri NSA State Tourney, the Stingers were crowned Number One. The Stingers first game on Father's Day set the tone as they won in the last inning 17-9 by defeating the Spirit. The Stingers scored 13 runs in the top of the fourth to seal the win. Game two saw the Stingers explode in the first inning by scoring 13 runs against the Classics. The Stingers ended up winning 20-3. Great job to all the girls!! This was one of your goals for the season and You are the State Champs!! The Stingers are now 23-6 on the year with about 15 games remaining.

The Stingers concluded their season by tieing for 47th place out of 99 teams at the NSA "A" 14u Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.  The Stingers played all second year teams and ended up 2-2 in bracket play.  The Stingers beat the Indiana Magic and the Illinios Rockets and lost to the Cincy Doom and the Diamond Fever.  The Stingers held the lead in every game they played in this weekend.  One of the best games to watch was the Diamond Fever (Virginia State Champs) game.  The Stingers lost 2-1 in an unbelievable well played game by both teams.  The competition at this year's national was second to none. 

The Stingers ended their season with a 53-32-1 record and played a significant amount of their games against very high level 14u teams across the nation, 16u teams and even an 18u team.  The Stingers will be a second year 14u team and play most if not all local games at the 16u level for 2009. 

Congrats on a very successful season!

The St. Louis Stingers started 2009 off with a bang.  Going 4-0 and winning the 14u Jamestown Indoor Tournament.  The Stingers' bats produced 43 runs during the four games played and their defense allowed 12.  The Stingers beat the Lady Booyahs, FSC Angels from KC, the Wildcats from Springfield, Mo and the Stealth in the finals.  The competition was tough and congrats to all teams for their hard play.  The Stingers next tournament is January 24/25 playing in the 16u Jamestown Indoor Tournament. 

 Congrats ladies! 

The St. Louis Stingers took second place this weekend by going 2-1-1 over the weekend.  The Stingers faced 4 excellent 16u teams at the Jamestown Indoor Complex in St. Louis.   The Stingers started off the 3 game round robin format with a tie to the 16u Lady Booyahs.  Then the Stingers went on to beat the Indiana 16u Silver Lightning and the 16u Illinois Wicked Stixs.  By going 2-0-1 in round robin play, the Stingers advanced to the finals for a rematch with the 16u Lady Booyahs.  Both teams played extremely well and the Lady Booyahs came out ahead beating the Stingers 2-0.  Congrats to the Lady Booyahs.  This was the first big test for the Stingers as they made a commitment to play 16u most of the year (as they are a 14u team) and they looked very good against some very solid 16u teams.  Congrats Stingers and keep up the good work.  The Stingers record is now 6-1-1 for 2009.