VIENNA -- A four-run top of the seventh inning lifted the St. Elizabeth Lady Hornets past the Vienna Lady Eagles for a 12-9 victory Monday night.
With the win, St. Elizabeth wins the first Show-Me Central Conference softball championship with a 3-0 record. Vienna finished second with a 2-1 record.
The score was tied at 8 after six innings. St. Elizabeth opened the top of the seventh with five consecutive hits and never looked back.
Allie Williams, Addison Doerhoff and Reagan Wobbe had consecutive singles to put St. Elizabeth in front 9-8. Kinley Kemna followed with an RBI double and Dani Heckemeyer hit a two-run single to give the Lady Hornets a four-run lead.
Ella Hollis answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate for Vienna, but St. Elizabeth ended the game by getting the next batter to ground out to the shortstop.
St. Elizabeth led 3-0 after one inning, then each team scored two runs in the third and fourth innings for a 7-4 Lady Hornet lead. Vienna scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 8.
St. Elizabeth pounded out 19 hits, led by a 5-for-5 performance from Doerhoff. Olivia Oligschlaeger went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run and four RBI, Kemna had two doubles and a single, Heckemeyer finished with two hits and three RBI and Wobbe added two hits and two RBI. Williams also collected two hits.
Riley Hammond pitched all seven innings for the Lady Hornets, striking out nine batters and walking seven. She gave up nine runs (three earned) on five hits.
Ellis went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and three RBI to lead the Vienna offense. Kenna Roberds drove in a pair of runs.
Adelynn James walked five batters and struck out one in seven innings in the circle for the Lady Eagles.
St. Elizabeth (24-2), ranked No. 1 in Class 1, received the No. 1 seed in the Class 1 District 2 Tournament, which will be played in Hermitage. The Lady Hornets play in the first round at 2 p.m. Thursday, awaiting the winner of Wednesday's play-in game between eighth-seeded Humansville and ninth-seeded Climax Springs.
Vienna (16-7) is the No. 3 seed in the Class 3 District 5 Tournament, which will be played at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville. The Lady Eagles open against sixth-seeded School of the Osage at 7 p.m. Thursday in the first round.