The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs will be seeking their fourth straight National Trail Conference Softball Tournament title, thanks to a 6-2 win over Altamont in one semifinal game, played Wednesday at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.
Wild pitches helped St. Anthony score three of its runs and an Altamont error let in a fourth. That, combined with the pitching of Sydney Kibler and Addie Wernsing, put the Lady Bulldogs in the championship game.
They will face Windsor/Stew-Stras at 6 p.m. Friday.
Three walks and two wild pitches staked SAHS to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Maddie Kibler walked and eventually scored on an error in the fourth and Hailey Niebrugge walked, advanced to third base after two more wild pitches and then came home on a ground out by Abbi Hatton in the fifth.
The Lady Bulldogs wrapped up their scoring with a two-run sixth. Stacie Vonderheide walked, Julia Schultz got a base hit and Addy Rios delivered a two-run single.
The Lady Indians scored on a pair of solo home runs – by Grace Lemke in the third and Laila Hankins in the seventh.
Sydney Kibler pitched the first four innings to get the win. She allowed five hits and one run, while walking three and striking out eight. Wernsing took care of the final three frames, giving up two hits and a run, while walking one and striking out six.
Lemke took the loss for Altamont. She allowed six runs and five hits. She walked six and struck out nine.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 21-2.
In other games Wednesday, WSS defeated South Central 11-1; Dieterich beat North Clay 18-4; and St. Elmo/Brownstown outlasted Neoga 13-11.
The tournament will conclude Friday. At 4:15 p.m., Dieterich will face SEB for the consolation title; and Altamont and South Central will play for third place. St. Anthony and WSS will then square off in the final game.
All games are played at Evergreen Green Hollow Park.