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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville senior pitcher Ryleigh Owens allowed only one hit while striking out eight inside the circle and also helped herself with three hits and an RBI as the Tigers won the IHSA Class 4A softball regional championship game 11-0 over Collinsville Friday afternoon at the District 7 Sports Complex.

Edwardsville's win advances them to the Pekin sectional, where the Tigers will play Tuesday afternoon against either Belleville East or Belleville West at West on Tuesday afternoon. The Lancers and Maroons play the final of the East Regional on Saturday morning.

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The Tigers opened the scoring in the first inning when, with the bases loaded and one out, Sydney Lawrence singled on a fly to center. scoring Owens with the first run, with Jillian Lane and Emily Wolff advancing on the play to give Edwardsville a 1-0 lead. A grounder to short by Lexie Griffin forced Wolff, but Lane scored to make it 2-0, followed by a Tatum Van Ryswyk single to reload the bases. Lawrence scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0 before Jillian Hawkes struck out to end the inning.

In the second, an Owens triple to center and a ground out by Avery Hamilton that scored Owens made it 4-0, and after a scoreless third, the Tigers exploded for seven runs, starting with a Zoie Boyd triple and Owens double that scored Boyd to make it 5-0. Hamilton then doubled to drive home courtesy runner Avery Shaw, and after a walk to Lane, an infield single by Wolff brought in Hamilton, who had gone to third on a wild pitch, to make it 7-0. Wolff subsequently stole second and an RBI single by Lawrence made it 8-0.

A Griffin double to left scored two more runs and a Charlie Hayes grounder back to the box scored Grace Blakemore with the final run to make it 11-0. Owens cruised along in the circle, allowing only a lead-off single in the fifth Maya Clark for the Kahoks' only hit, while walking one and fanning six as the Tigers took the regional title with the 11-0 win, due to the 10-run rule.

Collinsville finishes the season 11-19, while the Tigers are now 29-3 and move on to the sectional date on Tuesday, with the winner of the other Pekin semifinal between Plainfield South, who won the Minooka regional over the hosts 6-5, and the Moline regional winner, either Bradley Bourbonnais or Normal Community, next Friday, June 3, at Pekin High in a 4:30 p.m. start. The Pekin winner faces the Yorkville winner in the super-sectional game June 6 at Illinois Wesleyan University's Carol Willis Park/Inspiration Field in a 4:30 p.m. start.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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