WELDON SPRING聽鈥 Elia Cabo screamed as she popped up from her leadoff triple. The聽exaltation from the Francis Howell junior mingled perfectly with the dugout celebration after her extra-base hit.
But a lone voice stood out.
"She was pumped," Francis Howell coach Lexi Romeril said. "A聽leadoff triple is huge, and that was awesome, but I was yelling at her to go."聽
Cabo's squeal of delight was cut short when she saw the ball had gotten away from the defender, and she dashed home for the game's opening run.聽
It was far from the last time the Vikings touched home plate.
Francis Howell tore the cover off the ball for three innings and sank sister school Francis Howell Central 15-0 in three innings for the Class 5 District 3 softball title game Monday afternoon at Francis Howell High School.
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"They put on a show today and I鈥檓 happy for them," Romeril said. "We got to play in front of our family and friends, and our volleyball team was here to support us. It鈥檚 just an unreal feeling to do it at home."
Francis Howell (21-9), the defending Class 5 state champion, secured its third successive district title.
The Vikings will play at Helias (22-6), a 9-7 winner Monday over GAC South champion Troy Buchanan in the District 4 final, in a Class 5 quarterfinal game Saturday.聽
Cabo, a speedy outfielder,聽was thinking three out of the box when she led off the game with a laser down the right-field line. After her slide, she was convinced the ball was there with her.
Then, through all the noise, she heard her coach coaxing her to score.
"I was kind of panicked because I thought they had the ball at three, but once I realized that it was really far, I just took off," Cabo said.聽
Her game-opening run was the first of five the Vikings scored as they took advantage of four errors by Howell Central (16-20).
Cabo led off the second inning with a screaming double in the gap. Sophomore catcher Adelle Metz followed by trading places with her teammate with her own double. Senior infielder Addie Clark followed suit with another screamer of a double and the rout was on.
"We had the momentum and our cheers were up and that led me not to have any anxiety and play freely," Metz said.聽
Cabo was a home run short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Metz finished 2-for-3 with two doubles.聽
Senior second basemen Malia Loos went 2-for-2 with two doubles and collected five RBI in the three innings.
"I told myself it鈥檚 now or never," Loos said. "(My approach) was yes, yes, yes until it鈥檚 no. I just had to clear my head with nothing to lose. That ball looked like a beach ball."
Howell's offense battered out 10 hits, seven of which were for extra bases against their conference rival.聽
"Up and down that lineup, they battled, put the bat on the ball and hit the ball hard," Francis Howell Central coach Aaron Pearson said. "I tip my cap to them, up and down that lineup, they battled."
The Vikings have scored double-digit runs in their last five games after scoring double-digit runs just five times in the first 25 games.聽
"Our offense is a big part of who we are," Romeril said. "We have a lot of senior leaders, and when you start hacking at a pitcher, it鈥檚 tough to recover. We say all the time; offenses don鈥檛 get tired, defenses get tired."
The 15 runs were enough for senior pitcher Elle Glass, who recorded the win with a three-inning, one-hit shutout. It's win No. 10 for the senior.聽
While the outcome wasn't what he hoped for, Pearson was proud of his senior class that has helped the Spartans to the district title game three of the last four seasons.
"The girls have been around for everything," Pearson said. "They contributed so much to the culture here and I鈥檓 proud to have them. I'm going to miss them."