The Austin 18-and-under softball team wrapped up a busy Sunday as the consolation champions in the Austin Girls' Youth Fast-Pitch Tournament.

They knocked off the Eau Claire Speed 2-1 in the semifinals and Pepin 7-1 in the finals to claim the championship.

"I thought we played well as a team, even with lots of the kids playing out of position," said Austin coach Lisa Quednow-Bickler.

Austin played five games with only nine players for much of the day, with catcher Keri Feller spending every inning behind the plate. That didn't stop her from making a diving catch of a pop-up in the final inning against Pepin.

"Oh yeah, I feel great," said a drained Feller after it was all over.

They began Sunday by beating up on Dodge Center 16-1. That was followed by a 4-3 loss to the Rochester Thunder, which sent them tumbling into the consolation bracket. Austin rebounded to edge Winona 7-6, setting up a rematch with Eau Claire.

Although Austin had beaten them 6-0 on Saturday, their semifinal matchup with the Speed would be considerably more tense.

Austin struck first again Sunday, pushing across a run in the second. Nicole Turvey led off the inning with a double and stole third. She then scored on Steph Sundberg's sacrifice fly.

It would be their last offense for a while though, as seven of their next eight batters were retired by Speed pitching.

Austin starter Amy Kelly continued her domination of Eau Claire, keeping them hitless over the first four innings.

She got into trouble in the fifth though when a double and an error left her with a runner on third with no one out. After she notched a strikeout, the Speed got a bunt single to plate their first run in twelve innings against Kelly.

With the game now deadlocked at 1, Austin got their bats going again in the bottom of the fifth. Louise Mudra began the rally with a one-out infield single. Betsy Hingeveld followed an out later with a solid base knock to center.

That brought up Kelly, who earned herself a win with the two-out RBI single.

The game was called after that due to time constraints, setting up the consolation championship against Pepin.

Mudra started for Austin and was in control through four innings, allowing just one hit.

After chances in each of the first three innings, Austin would break through with three runs in the fourth.

They loaded the bases, but hadn't scored yet when Mudra stepped to the plate with two outs. She helped herself out by chopping a two-run single just over the shortstop's glove. Chelsea McColley followed with a RBI base hit of her own to make it a 3-0 game.

Austin continued to put the pressure on Pepin, getting two runners in scoring position in the fifth and loading the bases with no one out in the sixth. Each time, they were held scoreless.

Pepin also began to get some offense going off Mudra. They left a couple of runners on in the fifth before finally scoring in the sixth.

They got a double and a single to put runners on the corners with two outs. Another base hit plated Pepin's first run of the game. But Mudra induced a grounder back the mound to end the threat

Austin responded by batting around in the seventh. Five singles, a walk, an error, and a wild pitch brought home four runs in all.

Mudra shut down Pepin in the bottom of the inning to preserve the 7-1 win. She gave up five hits on her complete-game effort, walking none and getting one strikeout.

"I was pretty out of sync yesterday because I hadn't played in so long," said Mudra, "I felt stronger today though and got my rhythm and timing back."

Offensively, she led Austin by going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI's. Sundberg was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and another driven in, while McColley went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases from the leadoff spot. Rider was 2-for-4 with two runs scored as well.

Austin improves to 6-2 on the season after this weekend's play.