Fatima flusters Holden, advances to Class 3 State Championship

OZARK, Mo. (KMIZ)

Fatima needs one more win to clinch its fourth state championship in program history.

The Comets (19-13) stormed into their first state title game since the 2019 season, cruising to a 12-3 win over Holden (17-11) at Ozark Mountain Sports Complex. Wednesday's game marked the program's ninth appearance in the state semifinals, which is tied for 11th-most in MSHSAA history.

First pitch for this contest was pushed back from 1 p.m. to 3:50 p.m., due to weather delays.

However, Fatima did not let the weather hinder its focus. After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, head coach Tyler VanGerpen's team rallied to score five runs in that same frame. Brody Kleffner erased the one-run deficit with an opposite field, two-RBI double, and then, Glenn Berhorst scored two more runs with a single to left field, ending a string of five straight batters to reach base safely. Logan Kliethermes capped off the five-run frame with an RBI single, representing one of the team's eight different players to post an RBI in the contest.

From there, the Comets outscored the Eagles by a 7-2 margin for the remainder of the game, propelled by 11 combined hits. Kliethermes ended the game 3-for-3 while Bryce Wieberg and Colten Scheulen accounted for the rest of the team's multi-hit efforts. Wieberg also recorded a game-high 3 RBI's.

Kleffner delivered a gutsy performance on the mound, allowing just one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts over 6.1 innings of work. Once Kleffner reached his pitch limit, Kliethermes finished off the victory by retiring two of the four batters that he faced, including a strikeout to end the game.

Up next - Fatima will face Fair Grove for the MSHSAA Class 3 State Championship on Thursday, June 5 at 1 p.m. in Ozark, Missouri.