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ALTON - Sophomore pitcher Avery Hamilton pitched a perfect game, retiring all 21 Alton batters she faced as Edwardsville won their regular-season finale over Alton 5-0 at the Redbirds' home park in a Southwestern Conference softball game played Thursday morning.
The game was originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m., but was moved up to 10 a.m. in order to avoid rain and thunderstorms that were forecast for later in the day.
The Tigers scored twice in the opening inning, then pushed across a run in the fourth and two more in the sixth to give Hamilton the run support she needed in pitching her gem.
Lexie Griffin had two hits and an RBI on the day for Edwardsville, while Hamilton also had two hits, both Lexi Gorniak and Brooke Tolle had a hit and an RBI, while Ryleigh Owens, Sam Sanders and Tatum Van Ryswyk also had hits.
Hamilton struck out four while in the circle and got great help from her defense all day, making good plays to preserve the perfect game.
Alyson Haegele pitched five innings for the Redbirds, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out two batters, and Emma Kiger pitched the final two innings, allowing two runs on two hits while fanning one.
The Tigers finish the regular season 19-5 and will host Granite City in the IHSA Class 4A regional Wednesday afternoon. The Redbirds are now 13-11 and finish their regular season Tuesday afternoon at Civic Memorial, then start their postseason Wednesday afternoon at home against O'Fallon. All games start at 4:30, with the regional final set for next Thursday afternoon at the highest seed, also starting at 4:30 p.m. The Tigers are the top seed, while the Redbirds were seeded fourth.
Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
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