COLUMBIA - The William Woods Owls continued their softball season Thursday with a 6-5 win in an elimination game against the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans in the American Midwest Conference Tournament at Antimi Softball Complex.
William Woods (20-21), the No. 5 seed, will face sixth-seeded Lyon College in an elimination game at noon today. The winner will advance to play either top-seeded Columbia College or No. 2 Central Baptist in another elimination game at 2 p.m.
The Owls scored two runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings.
Celeste Sermeno hit a two-run single for the Owls in the second and Emma Taylor hit a two-run home run to left-center field in the fourth, giving William Woods a 6-2 advantage.
Hannibal-LaGrange had the tying run on second base in the top of the seventh inning, but William Woods pitcher Alexis Hassler finished her complete game with a pop-up in foul territory.
Hassler walked one and struck out four in seven innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits.
Ally Mahoney went 3-for-3 with three singles for the Owls. Sermeno had two singles and two RBI and Taylor added two RBI with her homer.
Earlier Thursday, William Woods dropped into the loser's bracket following a 7-5 loss to Columbia College.
The Owls finished with nine hits against Columbia College's Lexi Dickerson, the AMC pitcher of the year. Mallory Feldewerth was 4-for-4 with three singles, one double and two RBI to lead William Woods, while Sermeno and Taylor each had two hits.
Kalee Wall pitched a complete game for William Woods. In seven innings, she allowed seven run (six earned) on 14 hits.
The Cougars extended their winning streak to 28 games with Thursday's win.
William Woods opened the AMC Tournament on Wednesday with a 3-2 win against fourth-seeded Williams Baptist.
Feldewerth hit an RBI double in the first inning, Sermeno hit an RBI single in the second inning and Jaden Swift added an RBI infield single in the sixth for the Owls' runs.
Hassler pitched six shutout innings before allowing two runs in the bottom of the seventh. She gave up two runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
III
The AMC announced its all-conference softball honors Wednesday, with William Woods placing six players on the all-AMC team.
Feldewerth, Hassler and Taylor made the all-AMC first team, while Mahoney, Sermeno and Devyn Burton made the all-AMC second team for the Owls.
Taylor leads the Owls with a .388 batting average (52-for-134) through Thursday's games, while Feldewerth is next at .380 (38-for-100). Sermeno hit batting .364 (32-for-88), Mahoney is hitting .333 (36-for-108) and Burton is at .288 (32-for-111).
Taylor also has team-highs of 31 runs scored and 29 RBI, while Mahoney leads the Owls with five home runs. Sermeno and Taylor each have 10 doubles.
In the pitcher's circle, Hassler has a 13-9 record with one save in 26 appearances. She has a 2.95 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 132 innings.
In addition to Dickerson being named AMC pitcher of the year, Columbia College also had Makenzie Kasarda as co-player of the year, Taylor Barnes as newcomer of the year and Wendy Spratt as coach of the year. Central Baptist's Allison Seats was also co-player of the year and Hannah Work was freshman of the year for the Mustangs.