WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It took the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons, last year's runner-up in Class 2 softball, until the second week of the season to win their first game in 2017.
Now they can't seem to lose.
Two days after winning the Capital City Invitational, Blair Oaks sent 23 batters to the plate in the first inning against the Versailles Lady Tigers, winning 20-0 in three innings Monday at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
Since opening the season with back-to-back losses to Centralia, the defending Class 2 state champion, and Eugene, the Lady Falcons have reeled off eight consecutive wins.
"They take pride in every game," Blair Oaks coach Sharon Buschjost said. "To start the season 0-2, they just kind of had to take a step back and think about it a little bit.
"We knew what we were capable of doing, and I think we were ready to just move on to the next game and hopefully start a winning streak, which is what we did."
Much of the early season struggles were attributed to a stagnant offense.
After scoring just three runs combined in those two losses, Blair Oaks has scored 20 runs in three games during its win streak. The Lady Falcons have outscored opponents 91-15 since their last loss.
"We had some misplays that happened at bad times, but mainly, it was the hitting," Buschjost said. "That certainly has made the difference, because our pitching has been absolutely dominant."
The dominant pitching carried into Monday's win. Meredith Eisterhold faced the minimum nine batters in three innings against Versailles, striking out four.
Ellie Dunnaway lined a single back up the middle off Eisterhold's glove to lead off the top of the third inning, but she was caught stealing second base later in the inning.
With Blair Oaks playing its fifth game in four days, Buschjost said it has been crucial for the Lady Falcons to split the workload with two pitchers in Eisterhold and Makenna Kliethermes.
"Last year, our team experienced some uncertainty at the pitcher's spot," Buschjost said. "We knew how important that No. 2 pitcher was last year, so this year, we learned from that and realized pitchers still have their limits and you want to make sure they stay healthy."
Blair Oaks collected 13 hits in the first inning, with four batters - Kayla Jones, Hannah Schroeder, Nicole Bryan and Erin Fennewald - each having two in the frame. The Lady Falcons led 18-0 at the end of one inning.
Peyton Kusgen scored three times in the inning: twice as a courtesy runner for Schroeder, then again after she entered the game as a substitute and was hit by a pitch before scoring on an error.
Buschjost said she added two players to her varsity roster during the Invitational. All 20 varsity players participated in Monday's game.
"(Getting in) 20 players in three innings, that does make a coach happy," she said.
Schroeder, Bryan and Fennewald each had three RBI. Eleven different Lady Falcons had at least one hit.
The schedule is jam-packed for Blair Oaks (8-2, 2-0 Tri-County), which hosts School of the Osage today in another Tri-County Conference matchup.
With three straight weekends filled with tournament play - the C.C.I. last weekend, the Warrensburg Tournament this weekend and the Kewpie Classic the following weekend - there's the potential for the Lady Falcons to play 20 games in a 16-day span, with only four off days on Wednesdays and Sundays.
"We had a slow start to our schedule in terms of the number of games, so it really hits it hard now," Buschjost said. "We've got a full schedule of games, with three tournaments in a row.
"You have to finish one game and start planning for the next one."
In the JV game, Blair Oaks defeated Versailles 9-2 to improve to 10-0.
Alexis Findley was the winning pitcher, striking out six batters. Lauren Strange went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Kaitlyn Luebbering had a double and two RBI. Logan Wilbers, Morgan Higgins and Mackenze Prenger each had one double.