ST. ELIZABETH, Mo. - The Salisbury Lady Panthers have figured out it's hard to lose if your opponents don't score any runs.
They've made a living on that winning formula this postseason.
For the fourth straight game, Salisbury held an opponent from crossing home plate, winning 7-0 on Monday against the St. Elizabeth Lady Hornets at St. Elizabeth Ballpark.
This marks the fourth Final Four appearance in the past six seasons for Salisbury, which has outscored opponents 46-0 this postseason.
"They're a great team," St. Elizabeth coach Tim Oligschlaeger said. "They have the ability to go all the way if they want to."
Salisbury pitcher Bryn Wooldridge, a three-time all-state player, kept the Lady Hornets off-balance all game, striking out 10 batters.
"She's a good pitcher," Oligschlaeger said. "She throws a lot of strikes, she has good speed. She had a little trouble tonight with her offspeed, but she's a high-caliber pitcher."
Wooldridge allowed five walks and needed 54 pitches to get through the first two innings. She settled down after that, ending the game with 115 pitches while not allowing a walk after the fourth inning.
Seven of her 10 strikeouts came with batters looking at the third strike.
"You always want them to go down swinging if they can," Oligschlaeger said. "She's got a little movement on the ball, and to them it was outside or inside. That's just the way the call goes sometimes."
St. Elizabeth stranded nine runners on base and put at least one runner on base in each of the first six innings.
The Lady Hornets' best scoring chance came in the bottom of the second, when Victoria Scheulen and Maddie Wilde walked and Regina Kemna reached on an error to load the bases with two outs.
Wooldridge answered with a strikeout to end the inning. She didn't allow a St. Elizabeth runner past second base the rest of the game.
"One hit, one blooper, anything scores two runs on that, and we're right there in the ballgame," Oligschlaeger said of the second inning. "It changes the tone of the game. You never know. If you get a couple of runs on a pitcher like that, you never know."
Salisbury had a scoring opportunity in the top of the first, but when Elizabeth Bales put down a squeeze bunt, St. Elizabeth catcher Tori Kemna jumped out from behind the plate, grabbed the ball and tagged Brooke Stefankiewicz coming down the third-base line as she attempted to score.
"She's great back there," Oligschlaeger said of Tori Kemna.
Stefankiewicz would strike back though.
After the Lady Panthers took advantage of an overturned call on a force play at second base to keep the second inning going, Stefankiewicz lined a two-run double to left-center field to give Salisbury a 2-0 lead.
Cayden Stapleton hit an RBI single in the third, and Stefankiewicz hit an opposite-field solo home run to left-center to make the score 4-0 in the fourth. Salisbury added another run later that inning on an RBI double by Abigail Gebhardt.
"They're good hitters," Oligschlaeger said. "They know what they're doing up there."
Salisbury added two more runs on two errors in the sixth to build a 7-0 advantage. The Lady Hornets finished with five errors, but they also provided just as many defensive gems, including three by right fielder Megan Plassmeyer.
Plassmeyer made a sliding catch in shallow right field to end the top of the second, then made a running catch in foul territory in the fourth inning. With no outs and a runner on third in the sixth inning, she caught a fly ball and fired it home to Tori Kemna, who made the tag on Salisbury courtesy runner Rachel Fessler for the double play.
"If you're a sports fan, any time you see a play like that, you've got to like that," Oligschlaeger said of the double play.
Stefankiewicz, a two-time all-state infielder, went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead Salisbury, while Gebhardt - also a returning all-stater - had two doubles and Brooke Bartholomew added two singles.
Salisbury (20-5) will play Maysville (23-5) at 11 a.m. Friday in the Class 1 semifinals at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. Maysville defeated Salisbury 3-2 in eight innings in last season's state championship game.
Canton (22-1) will play Stoutland (18-3-1) in the other semifinal game.
Tasia Green, Emily Wilde and Jordan Plassmeyer each singled for St. Elizabeth's only hits. Maddie Wilde allowed seven runs on 10 hits with one walk and five strikeouts in the pitcher's circle.
St. Elizabeth ends the season with a 12-12 record and will lose five starters to graduation, but the remaining five starters were freshmen and sophomores this season.
"The seniors that paved the way showed them how to get here," Oligschlaeger said. "There are players that can fill in next year, so I expect the team to be back here again."