O'FALLON - Maksine Straub and Marley Fox both came up big for Edwardsville's softball team on Thursday, as Straub had two hits and three RBIs, and Fox struck out nine inside the circle, as the Tigers clinched a share of the Southwestern Conference championship with a 5-0 win over O'Fallon at the Panthers' home park.
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The win allowed the Tigers to share the SWC crown wth Belleville East, who defeated East St. Louis on Thursday 15-0, as both schools ended the regular season 10-1. Edwardsville ends the regular season at 25-9, going into the IHSA Class 4A regional next week.
The Tigers scored their first run in the second, as Maggie Bray led off with a double, went to third on a ground out, and scored on Bryar Ellinger's RBI infield single to give Edwardsville a 1-0 lead. Edwardsville doubled the lead in the fifth, as Ellinger tripled to the fence in center to lead off the inning, scoring on an RBI single by Amelia Wilfong to make it 2-0.
Fox was dominant in the circle, allowing only two hits and setting down 10 in a row through the fifth. The Panthers threatened in the bottom of the sixth, starting when Hadley Schulte reached on an error, but was forced at second by Kennedy Clark. Bella Schmitt singled Clark to third, and Kylie Lehde walked to load the bases, but Fox struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam and preserve the lead.
The Tigers put the game away in the seventh, all with two out. Sophie Antonini and Lily Stone reached on errors, and Straub hit the first pitch over the fence in center for a big three-run homer, scoring Antonini and Stone ahead of her to make it 5-0 for the Tigers. Fox retired the Panthers in the seventh to give Edwardsville the win and a share of the crown.
Straub led with her two hits and three-run game-clinching homer for her only RBIs, while Ellinger had two hits and an RBI, Wilfong came up with a hit and an RBI, and Brooke Burris, Antonini, Stone, and Bray all had hits. Fox went all the way inside the circle, picking up the win, and gave up no runs on four hits, walking one and striking out nine.
The Panthers end the regular season Monday at home against Mascoutah at 4:30 p.m., then host the IHSA Class 4A regional, starting Wednesday against Springfield at 4 p.m. The Tigers conclude their regular season 25-9, and meet Granite City first in the regional Tuesday, also at 4 p.m at O'Fallon.
The winners meet each other in the final on Friday at 4 p.m. The winner moves on to play the Belleville East winner in a neutral site game in the Bradley-Bourbonnais sectional May 26 at 4:30 p.m., with the winner playing in the final May 30 at 11 a.m. The sectional winner plays the New Lenox Lincoln-Way West sectional winner in the Illinois Wesleyan super-sectional on June 1 at 6:30 p.m., with the winner going on to the Class 4A state finals at Louisville Slugger Park in Peoria on June 5-6. The state semifinals will be on June 5 at 2:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.; the third-place game will be on Saturday at 1215 p.m.; and the state final will start at 4:45 p.m.
