The roles were reversed Friday afternoon.

This time, it was the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs that had a big inning, striking for seven runs in the first.

Even though the Effingham Lady Hearts had a six-run inning of their own, they were never able to make up that first-inning deficit.

As a result, St. Anthony finished with a 12-8 win in the third game of the annual City Series. Effingham won the first two games to clinch its sixth straight City Series championship.

In the first two games, it was Effingham that put up big innings to take the early lead. Friday’s game was much different and it was different immediately.

With one out, Addie Wernsing got the uprising going with a shot into the left-centerfield gap for a double. Hailey Niebrugge singled to put runners at first and third. Niebrugge then stole second and Wernsing came home on the throw.

Sydney Kibler reached base on a fielder’s choice, and with two outs, the Lady Bulldogs got rolling. Maddie Kibler singled to bring home a run and Grace Karolewicz walked to load the bases. Stacie Vonderheide followed with an infield single that drove home a run, an error allowed another run to cross the plate, Cameron Rios laid down a perfect bunt that brought home yet another tally and Wernsing capped the seven-run frame with a two-run single.

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Sara Burger was able to quiet St. Anthony’s hot bats.

The Lady Bulldogs, who had averaged 17 runs over their past five games, were limited to just two Wednesday afternoon.

Burger allowed just six hits over seven innings, leading Paris to a 4-2 win at home.

St. Anthony took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. With two outs, Cameron Rios singled and raced to third on a base hit by Addie Wernsing. On the throw to third base, Wernsing scooted into second. Lucy Fearday then came through with a single, driving in both runners.

But Paris responded by putting together a pair of two-run innings in the third and fourth. Burger made that stand up.

Fearday took the loss for SAHS. She allowed 10 hits and 4 runs. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.

The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 6-2. They are scheduled to face Teutopolis in the Cross Creek Classic. That game will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs exploded for 10 runs in the eighth inning Monday and posted a 14-8 victory at South Central.

The Lady Bulldogs sent 12 batters to the plate and banged out eight hits in the big inning. Maddie Kibler drove in the first run with a base hit and then capped the inning with a two-run homer. In between, Grace Karolewicz had a two-run triple, Sydney Kibler a two-run double and Lucy Fearday also drove in a pair with a base hit.

It took a while for St. Anthony to get untracked. The Lady Bulldogs were shutout through the first five innings and trailed 4-0. But their offense came alive in the sixth.

Cameron Rios and Addie Wernsing started things with base hits and both runners moved up after stealing a base. Sydney Kibler drove in the first two runs with a base hit, another scored on a ground ball and Karolewicz delivered a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.

Fearday pitched the first seven innings and got the win. She allowed seven hits and four runs, while walking one and striking out eight. Sydney Kibler pitched the eighth and allowed four runs on four hits.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-3 on the season. They will now face Effingham in the City Series on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They will play at the EHS diamond on Wednesday and Friday and play at home Thursday. Game time each day is 4 p.m.

The St. Anthony offense is putting up incredible numbers.

Over the last five games, the Lady Bulldogs have scored 86 runs, an almost unheard of 17 runs per game.

And they were at again Monday afternoon.

They banged out 16 hits and rolled to a 17-1 victory at home over St. Elmo/Brownstown.

The Lady Bulldogs wasted no time in starting yet another offensive barrage.

They sent 16 batters to the plate in the opening inning. They combined seven hits, two walks and two errors to push across 10 runs. Sydney Kibler blasted a three-run homer in that inning to stake SAHS to a quick 3-0 lead.

Before the inning was over, Cameron Rios, Grace Karolewicz and Lucy Fearday had RBI doubles and Maddie Kibler and Addie Wernsing added singles that also brought home runs.

St. Anthony didn’t let up in the second, scoring six more runs. They had six hits and a walk in that inning.

Twelve different batters had at least one hit, with Rios, Alexis Stephens, Sydney Kibler and Anna Faber each getting two.

SAHS improved to 6-1. The Lady Bulldogs will play at home today (Tuesday) against Newton, Wednesday at Paris and will then face Teutopolis on Friday in the annual Cross Creek Classic. That game will be played at Evergreen Park, beginning at 7 p.m.