St. Vincent softball team advances to title game with 5-3 victory

SCOTT CITY -- One big inning was enough for the St. Vincent Indians.

St. Vincent, the No. 2 seed, scored a 5-3 win over No. 6 Portageville to advance to the final of the Class 2 District 1 softball tournament Thursday.

"I thought coming in that if we got to five runs, we could hold 'em," said St. Vincent coach Dusty Wengert. "They made me look good today."

A two-out rally in the third inning led to four runs and erased a 2-0 Portageville lead.

Nicole Pruett kept the inning alive with a single to center field. Brooke Monier followed with an infield single and later stole second.

"Brooke's the catalyst," said Wengert. "When she gets on, it's almost like a guaranteed double. She hasn't been thrown out all year. Her job is to get on first base and steal second."

Amanda Breig then singled to right field to plate Pruett and Monier.

"Amanda has come up with the timely hit it seems like every time we've needed it," Winkler said.

Kayla Winkler then stroked an RBI single to bring home Brieg, and an outfield error allowed Winkler to score for a 4-2 advantage for the Indians.

St. Vincent tacked on a fifth run in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Abby Ruessler lined a double into the right-center field gap, and a wild pitch sent Ruessler to third. Casey Unterreiner walked, which brought sophomore Taylor Kirn to the plate.

Kirn layed down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Ruessler with an insurance run.

"That was big," said Kirn. "It's easier [for Portageville] to score two runs than three."

Portageville pulled to within two with a seventh-inning run.

Unterreiner picked up the win in the circle, allowing eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Portageville's Jenna Hawkins yielded six hits, struck out nine and walked one.

St. Vincent faces top-seeded Kelly for the championship at 4 p.m. today.

Portageville 002 000 1 -- 3 8 2

St. Vincent 004 001 x -- 4 6 2

WP -- Casey Unterreiner. LP -- Jenna Hawkins. 2B -- Hawkins (P), Alison Pepper (P), Jill Kellams (P), Abby Ruessler (SV). Multiple hits -- Portageville: Hawkins 2-4, Anna Ward 2-3. Records -- Portageville 8-11, St. Vincent 11-13.