PIEDMONT -- Clearwater never saw the seventh inning.
The Tigers run-ruled all three teams it faced in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 5 tournament, eventually beating Greenville 11-1 in six innings Wednesday in Piedmont to win its fourth district championship in five years.
"Quite honestly, I think this was our best game of the year as far as defense and pitching-wise goes. We picked a good time to do it," Clearwater coach Shannon England said. "We were determined to make it happen today. They were so focused on what we had to do we didn't have that let down."
Clearwater (16-8) will face West County in the first round of the state playoffs Monday.
The Tigers struck out once, perpetually putting the ball in play against a Greenville defense that had players out of position and was coming off a troubled performance in the semifinals.
The Bears (9-7) made fewer errors than they did the day before, but the ones they did make were more costly.
"We've had a lot of girls playing spots they are not familiar with, that they are not accustomed to playing, So we've had some adaptations there, definitely," Greenville coach Olivia O'Dell said. "With a few of them, they've gotten a little bit more confidence and with some I think it might have hurt their confidence to be in a spot they aren't used to playing."
After two scoreless innings where both pitchers had faced one over the minimum, Emilee Chitwood singled to start the bottom of the third for the top-seeded Tigers.
Makenna Black then hit a grounder that was knocked down by the Greenville infield, but the throw to first was hurried and wide, allowing Chitwood to score.
In the fourth, Halle Gooch and Brittany Adams singled to start the inning and Rachel Rowold laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Gooch on a squeeze play.
Amy Holmes added an RBI single and Chitwood drove in two runs with another single. Behind her, Black reached on another error and later scored to put Clearwater ahead 6-0.
"One kid gets a hit and then everybody thinks they can hit. The pitchers had a groove going and Greenville was playing well defensively early on. I think both teams, you could tell they were nervous. Once we broke through and had that big inning everybody relaxed a little bit," England said.
Adams singled and scored on a passed ball in the fifth and in the sixth, Greenville got two quick outs before rolling things over to the top of the Tiger lineup.
Brown singled and Burton drove her in, then Gooch connected for an RBI triple, bringing the game-winning run to the plate.
Adams walked, stole second, and Rowold came through with a walk-off single.
Adams scored three times to lead the Tigers and was 2 for 3 with a walk. Gooch, who hits in front of her, scored twice and was 2 for 2 with a triple. All but one spot in the lineup scored a run, and the spot that didn't, Rowold, had two RBIs.
Rowold also pitched in the win and allowed three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. She struck out the side in the second inning and didn't allow more than one runner to reach base in any inning.
"She just looked like she was in total command," England said. "One thing she did really well, if she got somebody on she didn't give up that second hit. She just kind of buckled down. She was pitching today. Not only did she have the velocity, but she was moving the ball around and changing speeds."
Jaden Francis tripled and scored in the sixth for Greenville's only run. Francis, who is Greenville's only senior, drew a walk in the first inning and was the only Bear to reach base twice. She also pitched and allowed 11 hits and two walks with one strikeout.
"As far as want and drive, I've never coached a kid who wanted to win more than her," O'Dell said. "She'll do whatever it takes. She'll do her part and will try to do everybody else's part when she has to. She helped turn softball around for us and definitely not something we are going to be able to fill easily."
Clearwater has lost one game -- by one run against Oran -- since the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament two weeks ago.
In mid-April, Clearwater had lost 5 of 8 and was struggling to solidify the team.
England was moving people around on defense to try and find the right combination with his four seniors -- Cheyanne Burton, Tabbie Carroll, Adams and Gooch -- being the key. With two games getting canceled because of weather, Clearwater went nine days following the OFC tourney without a game, giving the Tigers a mental and physical break.
After that, Burton went from center field back to catcher and Adams took center field while Gooch and Carroll solidified the left side of the infield at shortstop and third base, respectively.
"I think we finally found that right combination where the kids have confidence in themselves and then that confidence went over to the other players where they had confidence as well and we finally started playing as a team," England said.
With three seniors on the infield and one in center field helping the younger players, Clearwater has scored at least 10 runs and outscored its opponents 97-37 in its seven games since the OFC tournament.