It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the championship game of the National Trail Conference Softball Tournament.
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs, the top seed, advanced with a 10-1 win Wednesday over Altamont. They will meet Windsor/Stew-Stras for the championship. The Lady Hatchets advanced with a win over South Central.
After scoring an unearned run in the opening inning, the Lady Bulldogs broke the game open with a six-run third. Abbi Hatton led off with a walk and raced to third when Grace Karolewicz reached on an error. Cameron Rios brought in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Addie Wernsing followed with an RBI double.
Hailey Niebrugge added another run-scoring double and an error let in the fourth run of the inning. After Altamont’s third error of the inning, Anna Faber capped the six-run rally with a two-run run double.
St. Anthony added three more tallies in the fourth. Niebrugge had her second RBI double, while Lucy Fearday and Maddie Kibler both drove home runs with base hits.
Fearday was dominant on the mound. She allowed just two hits and one run. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out 13.
For the Lady Bulldogs, it was their 10th straight win and 20th victory of the spring season to go along with three losses. They will now face WSS for the tournament title Friday at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
