The North Callaway Ladybirds strung together some timely hitting to finally shake off the rival South Callaway Lady Bulldogs.
The Ladybirds plated three runs on three consecutive singles in the bottom of the third inning of an 8-5 victory over the Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday night.
Locked in a 4-all knot, senior pitcher Maddie Ausfahl reached base on a one-out single in the third. After moving to third on sophomore left fielder Kallie Lehenbauer's double, junior first baseman Taylor Wilson plated Ausfahl with what proved to be the game-winning RBI single.
Senior designated player Taylor Wiseman and freshman pinch-hitter Cameran Knipp followed with back-to-back RBI base hits to push North Callaway's lead to 7-4.
South Callaway - playing its season opener - scored its last run in the top of the fourth, while the Ladybirds topped off their scoring in the fifth.
Senior third baseman Ashley Miller gave the Lady Bulldogs the lead with an RBI single in the first, then junior first baseman Jordan Killion plated a run on a groundout to push South Callaway's edge to 2-0.
Ausfahl opened North Callaway's scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning. The Ladybirds (2-0) tied the game when Lehenbauer reached on an error, then grabbed the lead on a two-run single by Wiseman.
South Callaway junior second baseman Josie Mealy singled in a run in the second, then scored when junior catcher Alyssa Laughlin reached on a North Callaway miscue to bring the game to 4-4.
Ausfahl (2-0) struck out six in her second complete game in as many nights. She allowed five runs (one earned) on eight hits, walked one and finished 3-for-4 from the plate.
Wiseman was 2-for-3, Lehenbauer was 2-for-4 and and Wilson finished 2-for-4 with a double as the Ladybirds rang up 10 hits and overcame five errors.
Junior Konnor Arrowood completed four innings in the loss for the Lady Bulldogs. She yielded all eight runs - five earned - on nine hits, hit a batter and struck out three.
Laughlin was 2-for-2 with a double, Miller went 2-for-4 and Arrowood was 1-for-4. North Callaway prevailed 8-1 in the JV game to improve to 2-0.
The Lady Bulldogs open their home and Eastern Missouri Conference season at 5 today against Van-Far. The Ladybirds host Van-Far in their EMO opener at 5 p.m. Thursday.