MACEDONIA - St. Albert's season came to a close with a 6-0 loss to Riverside in the semifinal round of 1A district softball Monday night.

Riverside collected all of its hits in the third and sixth innings and stranded only four runners in the game. A key play came in the third inning. After a lead off single by Alyssa Palmer, Riverside's Kylie McCready squared to sacrifice the runner to second base. A wild pitch advanced the runner, making the bunt no longer necessary.

McCready followed with a solid single to plate Palmer. McCready later scored on a passed ball and Steph Bentley scored on a fielder's choice after a single.

Riverside scored three insurance runs in the sixth inning with consecutive singles by Shayla Stevens and Skyler Stevens. Two Saintes throwing errors in the inning allowed three runs to score.

St. Albert mounted two come-back attempts in the fifth and sixth innings, stranding two runners in each frame. The Saintes left a total of seven runners on base in the game.

"That's the story of our year," said St. Albert coach Katie Heithoff. "We get runners on base and don't get them home. We're a young team and we played a team with a track record of winning post-season games."

Riverside coach Carol Young was familiar with losing games by not picking up the clutch hit. "We struggled all season with stranding runners," said Young. "We executed well tonight and had a number of key plays."

Eighth grader Katie Palmer picked up the win for the Bulldogs. Melanie Hildebrand went the distance in taking the loss for the Saintes.

"We hit Palmer well the last time we played Riverside," said Heithoff. "Tonight, she did a great job of jamming our hitters."

Heithoff made special mention of right fielder Katie Gilliland, who made two nice catches including a diving catch in the fifth to keep the Saintes in the game.

St. Albert loses only two seniors from this year's 7-26 squad. Meghan Crowley and Erika Powers played their final high school softball games against the Bulldogs.

"We doubled our wins from last season and were competitive in nearly every game," said Heithoff. "We'll be young again next year but I see a bright future."

Riverside (19-14) hosts Audubon at Macedonia tonight in the 1A District Final. The winner advances to the regional semifinal Saturday at Underwood.

St. Albert 000 000 0 - 0 4 4

Riverside 003 003 x - 6 6 3

Melanie Hildebrand and Felicia Campbell. Katie Palmer and Shayla Stevens. W-Palmer, L-Hildebrand.

Records: St. Albert (7-26), Riverside (19-14).