MALDEN -- A gem in the circle and a lineup that continued its hot-hitting at the plate put the Bernie softball team in familiar territory in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 3 tournament.
The second-seeded Lady Mules took down No. 3 Puxico 10-0 in five innings Tuesday, which included a four-run first inning and another dominant outing from starter Cassidy Freed.
Bernie will take on top-seeded Malden in a rematch of the last two title games. The Lady Mules last beat the Green Wave for the championship in 2015.
Due to inclement weather moving into the area on Wednesday, tournament officials moved the championship start time up to 2 p.m.
"I thought we had better at-bats overall," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "When we did get a good pitch we put some pretty good swings on it and I thought we hit some balls hard. If we want to compete with Malden, we're going to have to do the same thing."
Bernie (23-4) entered Tuesday's game with a newfound passion. Though they blew out Bloomfield 14-0 in six innings, Bernie coach Brad Botsch thought the Lady Mules lacked intensity.
Bernie responded with 10 hits and scored a run in all but one inning -- a quick turnaround from their four hits a day earlier.
The Lady Mules got to Puxico starter Kaiti Payne early and often to go ahead for good in the bottom of the first inning.
Morgan Baker led off with a screaming single to left and eventually scored on a passed ball. Jessie McGuire followed with a walk, stole second and third and trotted home on Cymber Arnold's RBI triple.
Jacque Corbin popped out down the first-base line during the next at-bat for the first out of the inning, but on a heads up play, Arnold tagged up and scored as the Lady Indians left the plate uncovered to make it 3-0 in the blink of an eye.
"It starts with Morgan, who's been kind of a spark plug for us," Botsch said. "She's probably our best hitter but I like having her at the top because she'll come up more in the game. She takes advantage of it every time she can."
Freed helped herself when she drew a walk, stole second and third and sprinted home on an errant pickoff attempt to close out Bernie's scoring in the first.
It only got worse for the Lady Indians (9-13), who committed four errors and were left with just five baserunners.
"We were mentally week, we didn't come ready to play ball and we showed that in the first inning," Puxico coach Will Davis said. "I could see it in their faces and for some reason they played like they were scared."
The Lady Mules added one more in the second following another Puxico error, which allowed Kaylie Tanner, who led off the inning with a single, to score.
With a sizable lead to play with, Freed went to work in the circle for Bernie.
The freshman right-hander recorded her second straight complete-game shutout giving up a double and two singles. She hit one batter, walked one and finished with two strikeouts.
"She's been good all year and she's just a freshman but she pitches much more mature than that," Botsch said. "She's accurate with what she wants and she's above her years as a player."
Bernie teed off again in the fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate.
Baker led off with a single while McGuire was hit by a pitch and Arnold drew a walk. Baker scored on a passed ball followed by Corbin's two-run double to extended it to 9-0.
Puxico had its best chance to get on the board in the fifth when Erin Cornelius took a pitch to the ribs and Burns followed with a single. However, both runners were caught stealing before Freed delivered a walk-off single in the bottom-half to cap the Lady Mules' run-rule victory.