“This is an exciting time for the girls,” Walsh said. “At the beginning of the season, I believed we could reach this level. I know we’re young, but these girls have a passion for the game and are talented. Their softball IQ is high and they’re very coachable.”

Walsh said she didn’t know much about the Lady Tigers, who entered the game with a 13-2 record. It didn’t take long to realize the Lady Bulldogs were clearly the better team.

It started on the mound. Lucy Fearday was dominant from the outset. She allowed just two baserunners in her five innings of work. She hit Brenna Higginbotham – the very first batter she faced – and allowed a one-out single to Izzy Sheets in the fourth.

She retired 10 batters in a row during one stretch – including five by strikeout – and then set down the last five Hutsonville/Palestine hitters. Fearday didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight while throwing 71 pitches.

“There were times during the season when we played three, four, five games in a week and you could tell she got tired,” Walsh noted. “What a difference a day off makes. She looked refreshed and it showed.

“Lucy’s approach was great,” Walsh added. “She used her fastball and change-up and moved her pitches in and out. I thought she looked very confident out there. It was one of the best games she’s thrown this year.”

And her teammates provided her with more than enough support.

In fact, they scored the only run she needed in the bottom of the first inning. Cameron Rios, who along with Maddie Kibler had three hits to spark the team’s 13-hit attack, slapped the second pitch of the game into leftfield for a single.

Rios then stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Addie Wernsing then struck out, but the ball hit the dirt first. When the Lady Tigers catcher threw to first to get Wernsing, Rios scooted home with the run.

After a scoreless second, St. Anthony put the game away with three runs in the third and six more in the fourth.

In the third, it was Rios that got things started again. She grounded the ball up the middle for a base hit. When the ball rolled between the centerfielder’s legs, Rios raced all the way around the bases to score.

With two out, Hailey Niebrugge singled and she then came around to score when Lucy Fearday’s base hit was misplayed in the outfield. Maddie Kibler capped the inning by lining an RBI double that rolled to the centerfield fence.

“When we get Cameron Rios off to a good start, that generally puts us in good shape,” Walsh noted. “She’s aggressive at the plate and serves as a sparkplug for us. But we had a lot of good hitting today up and down the lineup. We made very good contact.”

And that was certainly the case in the fourth when the Lady Bulldogs strung together seven hits, including six in a row at one time, to push six runs across.

Stacie Vonderheide started the uprising with a high fly ball that sailed over the leftfield fence for a solo homer. After the next batter was retired, St. Anthony started spraying hits all over Bulldog Field.

Alexis Stephens blooped a pitch down the rightfield line. When the ball got away from the outfielder, she scampered all the way to third base for a triple. Rios followed with an RBI single, raced all the way to third on an error and scored when Wernsing blooped a base to right.

Before the inning was over, Niebrugge added a single, Lucy Fearday had a ground-rule double that drove in another run and Maddie Kibler capped the inning again with an RBI single.

The Lady Bulldogs were all over the base paths and took the extra base every time possible.

“We’re going to be aggressive on the base paths. That’s the way I played and that’s the way I coach,” Walsh said. “We may lose a few runners, but we’re going to try to take the extra base 100 percent of the time when it’s available. Taking that extra base can be huge at times.”

That now sets the stage for the St. Anthony/Casey-Westfield clash Thursday. These two teams met earlier in the season on May 15 and the Lady Warriors posted an 11-4 victory.

“These are the kind of games you play for,” Walsh said. “This is where we want to be every year. This is my first year of coaching and I’m still learning. But the goal is to change this St. Anthony program. We want girls to come out for softball and made a huge impact.

“I can’t wait for Thursday. I know it will be a challenging game, but I think we’ll be ready to play.”