The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs opened postseason play in impressive fashion Thursday afternoon.
Two pitchers combined to throw a one-hitter and Maddie Kibler belted a home run, helping the Lady Bulldogs post a 13-0, five-inning victory over Mulberry Grove.
St. Anthony will face Altamont today (Friday) for the Class 1A Regional C championship. That game will start at 4:30 p.m. at Bulldog Field. The Lady Indians advanced by beating Beecher City/Cowden-Herrick 5-0.
The Lady Bulldogs wasted no time taking charge against Mulberry Grove. Addie Wernsing singled, Hailey Niebrugge walked and Lucy Fearday drove in both runners with a double in the opening inning. Before that inning was over, however, another run scored on an error and Grace Karolewicz delivered to two-run single to stake SAHS to a quick 5-0 lead.
St. Anthony added three more runs in the second. Wernsing, who went 3-for-3 in the game, had a double, Fearday tripled and Sidney Kibler drove in a pair with a base hit.
The Lady Bulldogs completed the scoring with a five-run third, capped by Maddie Kibler’s two-run blast.
Stacie Vonderheide got the win. She pitched the first three innings and Wernsing took care of the final two. Dakota Kruep had the only hit for Mulberry Grove, a second-inning single. Vonderheide and Wernsing combined to strike out six, but didn’t walk a batter.
St. Anthony had nine hits and took advantage of six errors to score eight unearned runs.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-8 overall. They have faced Altamont twice so far this season and won both games by scores of 32-1 and 7-0.