Crook County pitcher McKuenzie McCormick has an 18-1 record with a 0.85 ERA heading into Tuesday’s Class 4A state semifinal game.(Andy Tullis/Bulletin photo)

Jessica Cross may never be more at ease than when her workhorse pitcher is in the circle, when her combine harvester of a Crook County defense is in the field, gobbling up everything opposing batters hit its way.

Few opponents have been able to crack the mesmerizing pitching of McKuenzie McCormick. Fewer still have been able to foil the defenders behind her. Asking a team to solve a Rubik’s Cube (McCormick) is already a tall order. Asking it to do so while simultaneously shooting skeet (finding a hole in the Crook County defense) is nearly impossible.

“Defensively, everybody is on their toes constantly,” says Cross, the Cowgirls’ fourth-year softball coach. “They know that McKuenzie throws really well and can be really dominant. But opposing hitters get ahold of the ball. It’s happened. And they have to have her back. That’s been the biggest change this year: just the focus from the girls both defensively and offensively.

“We’re a well-oiled machine.”

Consider the sum of that machine’s parts — beginning with McCormick, the workhorse.

Earlier this season, the senior pitcher suffered a concussion when she was struck in the face by a ball during a throwing drill, causing her to miss four games, all of which the Cowgirls lost. Now, as No. 6-seeded Crook County (20-5) readies for the program’s first appearance in the Class 4A state semifinals, McCormick is battling through a stress fracture in her right foot.

Yet nothing, she remembers, was going to keep her off the field.

“It was really difficult” to be sidelined, McCormick reflects. “I had to watch, and it honestly killed me. I tried everything to get back, but my coach wouldn’t let me play. I felt like we bonded more as a team (during McCormick’s absence). When I was gone, they struggled, and to watch them struggle really sucked. But we pulled it together and realized we needed to work hard.”

McCormick returned stronger than ever. She was voted the Tri-Valley Conference pitcher of the year this season — a year after being named the TVC player of the year and a first-team pitcher. In 20 games this season, McCormick is 18-1 with a save, recording nearly twice as many strikeouts (182) as hits allowed (69) and walks (26) combined while posting a microscopic ERA of 0.85.

“She has a demanding presence out there,” Cross says. “She’s been dominant and her mental focus this year has just grown exponentially. It’s been amazing to see the athlete that she has become.”

It is a combination of sharpshooter accuracy and a pitch selection ranging from a rise ball to a drop to a knuckle to a curve to a change-up to a screwball that has confounded opposing batters and made the right-handed McCormick one of the state’s top hurlers.

Just after the season started, McCormick committed to play college softball at NCAA Division II Montana State-Billings.

“I definitely feel like since I signed, I’m definitely more confident,” says McCormick. “I feel like we can compete with anybody. The four seniors (infielders Aspen Christiansen and Matney Searcy, outfielder Hailey Smith, and McCormick) really, really want this. I definitely want to play for the other three.”

“There’s just so much perseverance this year,” Cross says of her ace. “She’s worked her tail off and set pretty high goals for herself. She’s just really, really driven and wants the success not only for herself but for her teammates. And the girls are feeding off that. She’s worked really hard and that drive has pushed her teammates. The harder she works, the harder her teammates want to work.”

That brings us to the other component of Crook County’s well-oiled machine, one that has the Cowgirls in uncharted territory as they prepare for Tuesday’s semifinal in Prineville against No. 10 Gladstone.

Crook County’s offense has been carried by players such as Abby Dalton, Christiansen and Emma Ackley, all of whom hit better than .430 this season. Adding to a deep lineup, three other Cowgirls (Ashley Owens, Smith and McCormick) batted over .325. As a team, Crook County has 70 extra-base hits, nearly three per game.

“Our bats have always been good,” Cross says. “We’ve always had really big innings and strung hits together well. We have some really strong batters in our lineup. But defensively, that’s where it’s at. You have to be able to hold teams. We expect the girls to hit. We spend a lot of time, both defensively and offensively, and the expectation for them is to just hit. It should be that simple, right? But defensively, when they’re able to make clutch plays and keep runners at bay and getting outs in crucial plays is astounding, really.”

The Cowgirls indeed kept their cool last Friday, during their 6-3 quarterfinal win at No. 3 McLoughlin. Playing against a perennial 4A power, Crook County leaned on its defense. A tight strike zone resulted in five walks issued by McCormick — her first outing this season of more than three free passes. McLoughlin pounded out eight hits — the most allowed by McCormick in 2017.

Yet Crook County limited the damage, allowing only three runs while committing just one error. The Cowgirls’ offense, meanwhile, erupted for four runs in the fifth inning to set up a semifinal meeting against a familiar foe.

“We’re all just determined,” Christiansen says. “Once it comes down to that clutch play that it always seems to come down to in every game, I feel like it’s all of us deciding that we’re not done fighting, that we’re going to do everything we can to keep going.”

On its home field Tuesday, Crook County will look to advance to the program’s first championship game; the 4A final will be held Saturday in Corvallis. The Cowgirls will have to deal with Gladstone, a Tri-Valley Conference member that Crook County defeated three times this season by a combined four runs. That familiarity only adds to the Cowgirls’ fire.

“There’s no stopping us,” Christiansen says. “Once we won (against McLoughlin), it just feels like we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307, 
glucas@bendbulletin.com.

Class 4A playoffs

SEMIFINALS

Tuesday’s Games: No. 10 Gladstone (22-6) at No. 6 Crook County
 (20-5), 4:30 p.m.; No. 5 La Grande (21-4) at No. 1 Henley (28-0), 3 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday at 
Oregon State, TBA