COLUMBIA, Mo. - The William Woods Owls capped off an undefeated run through the American Midwest Conference Softball Tournament with a 6-0 win against Columbia College in Friday's championship game.
The Owls erupted for four runs in the bottom of the first, then added single tallies in the fourth and fifth innings.
Shelby LeCuru (Helias High School) had a pair of hits for the winners, Hannah Campbell (Russellville High School) had one hit and one RBI and Lindsey LeCuru (Helias High School) added one hit.
MacKenzie Bowden (Jefferson City High School) twirled a four-hitter to get the win, striking out five.
Paxton Welch (Helias High School) pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief for William Woods, givine up two earned runs on five hits while striking out one.
Marli Hayes (Jefferson City High School) and Whitni Howell (Jefferson City High School) had one hit each for Columbia College.
In an elimination game earlier Friday, Columbia College topped Park 4-3.
Howell had one hit and two RBI, while Kristin Eiken (Blair Oaks High School) had one hit.
The Owls started the event with a pair of wins Thursday.
The Owls started the day with a 3-2 win against Freed-Hardeman in nine innings before following it up with a 6-3 win against Park.
In the opener, William Woods got the game-winning run when Kacey Scharnhorst homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
All of the Owls' runs came by solo homer, as Emily Murphy had one in both the second and sixth innings. Freed-Hardeman got both its runs in the top of the seventh.
That was enough support for Bowden, who threw a complete-game six-hitter to get the win. Both runs were earned and she struck out 16.
Campbell and Shelby LeCuru had one hit each for William Woods.
Against Park, William Woods trailed 1-0 after one, but scored two in the first, one in the fourth and five in the fifth to go up 5-1. Park got two runs in the bottom of the fifth before William Woods closed out the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh.
Lindsey LeCuru had a single, double and one RBI while Campbell and Shelby LeCuru had one hit each.
Bowden came in to get the save, recording the final two outs by strikeout.
Columbia College went 1-1 on the opening day.
The Cougars opened the day with a 4-3 loss to Park, with the winning run coming across in the bottom of the sixth.
Columbia College came back to post a 5-4 in an elimination game.
Hayes had a two-run homer for the Cougars, while Kristin Eiken (Blair Oaks High School) and Howell had one hit each.
Taylor Richter (Blair Oaks High School) threw a six-hitter to get the win. All four runs were earned and she struck out four.
Following the game, several area players received honors from the conference.
Bowden was named the pitcher of the year, while William Woods' Tracy Gastineau was tabbed Coach of the Year. Bowden and Lindsey LeCuru were named first-team all-conference.
For Columbia College, Hayes and Eiken were named first-team all-conference.