WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Blair Oaks softball coach Sharon Buschjost was expecting to see a low-scoring contest, perhaps even decided by one run.
She was pleasantly surprised Saturday afternoon to see her Lady Falcons win a 10-0 rout against the Warsaw Lady Wildcats in the Class 2 state quarterfinals at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"I was seriously looking for a 2-1 game or a 1-0 game," Buschjost said. "Nothing above five runs total. I was hoping for this type of game, but I did not think it would be this at all."
Blair Oaks (26-4) will face Bowling Green (25-4) at 2 p.m. Friday in the Class 2 semifinals at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. East Carter (25-5) will face Trenton (26-2) in the other semifinal game.
This season was the first time in several years Warsaw and Blair Oaks did not meet in the regular season. This was the Lady Wildcats' first season in the Ozark Mountain Conference after leaving the Tri-County Conference.
"I felt better as a coach not going in so blindly and understanding what they were going to bring," Buschjost said.
Warsaw won the coin flip before the game and elected to be the home team. By the time the Lady Wildcats came to bat, they were already trailing.
Brooke Boessen and Makenna Kliethermes hit back-to-back singles in the first inning. After advancing to second and third base on a fielder's choice, both scored on a two-run single to right field by Erin Fennewald to put Blair Oaks ahead 2-0.
"If I would've won the coin flip, I would've picked home," Buschjost said. "But today, there was something about getting to the plate first."
That was enough run support for Kliethermes, who threw 10 pitches - all for strikes - in the bottom of the first to strike out the side.
"Efficiency is the key word," Buschjost said. "She hasn't been going deep into counts."
Saturday was the third straight season Kliethermes pitched a shutout in the state quarterfinals, beating Pleasant Hope 1-0 as a sophomore and Dixon 10-0 in six innings as a junior.
"I feel like I've grown quite a bit throughout each season," Kliethermes said. "You start to work on your weaknesses, and after that, those become your strengths. I feel like that's what I've been trying to control more of."
Kliethermes finished with 16 strikeouts and just one walk. In 21 appearances this season, Kliethermes has posted 10 or more strikeouts in 17 of those games.
"My sister's calling behind the plate for me, and we're more connected than I ever thought we would be," Kliethermes said.
Blair Oaks added four runs in the third inning. With two outs, Kayla Jones and Peyton Kusgen hit back-to-back two-run singles to extend the lead to 6-0.
The bottom of the order came through for the Lady Falcons. The Nos. 7-9 hitters - Jones, Kusgen and Bailey Rissmiller - combined to go 7-for-11 with eight RBI against Warsaw.
Buschjost said she has used the designated player in place of each of those three during the season.
"I try to reassure them that we are continuing to watch their swings at practice and just get a feel for where they're at with it," she said. "They've worked hard to keep their bat in the lineup."
The same three batters helped plate two more runs in the fifth. Jones hit a two-out single up the middle and stole second base. Kusgen hit an RBI single up the middle, then Rissmiller followed with an RBI double to the right-center gap to make the score 8-0.
"After today, 7-8-9 looks pretty good," Buschjost said.
In the seventh, Jones drew a leadoff walk. Kusgen then connected on a 1-1 pitch and hit it to straightaway center field. It appeared to be a flyout in front of the fence, but the wind pushed it just over the wall for Kusgen's first career home run.
"I thought the wind would be a factor somewhere along the line today," Buschjost said, "whether it be a pop fly that was hard to stay with or if it was one that got up in the wind and got out. I was just hoping that it would happen for us."
Kusgen went 3-for-4 with two singles, a homer and five RBI to lead the Blair Oaks offense.
"I was just going up there swinging for the fences, and it happened," said Kusgen, who narrowly missed a home run by a few feet in Wednesday's sectional win against Cuba.
The only time Warsaw's offense threatened Blair Oaks came in the third inning.
Kylee Fajen and Payge Adair reached on bunt singles to open the inning, the only two hits Kliethermes allowed. After a double steal, Taylor Howe attempted a safety squeeze bunt, hoping to push a run across the plate. But Blair Oaks first baseman Kaitlyn Kolb fielded the ball, looked the runner back and made the throw to first of the out.
Kliethermes finished the inning with a strikeout to strand both runners.
"In the Cuba game, our defense - other than Ellie (Kliethermes), our catcher - was not involved at all in making any plays," Buschjost said. "We knew that the short game was part of their strategy, and we worked on that and we also worked on looking back runners at third base."
Rissmiller finished with a pair of doubles, while Boessen and Makenna Kliethermes each had a single and a double. Jones and Fennewald also added two singles each.
Warsaw ends the season with a 23-4 record.
Up next for Blair Oaks is a rematch against Bowling Green in the semifinals. The Lady Bobcats won their first state championship last year, beating the Lady Falcons 6-1 in the title game.
This will be Blair Oaks' 10th Final Four appearance in the past 19 seasons. The Lady Falcons finished second in state in 2016 and '17.
"I'm ready. It's going to be a great game," Kliethermes said. "Hopefully we're the ones on top this year.
"Like they say, the third time's the charm."