Belle pitcher Shannon Branson baffled Trenton for the first two innings Friday morning, setting the Bulldogs down in order.

No. 9 hitter Samantha Fair finally helped Trenton figure out the Tigers’ senior starter. Trenton’s senior right fielder belted a one-out RBI double to right-center that started a two-run go-ahead bottom of the third inning.

The Bulldogs went on to a 10-1 Class 2 semifinal victory at Heritage Park with their .205 bottom-of-the order hitter starting the barrage.

What pitch did Fair pick on? The changeup.

“She did get me on it once,” said Fair, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. “Being No. 9 batter, some times they don’t get the luxury of being a big help, but it definitely felt really good.”

Trenton (19-1) ensured the first playoff run in school history will end with no less than a second-place trophy.

The Bulldogs advanced to today’s title game against Blair Oaks (20-5), 13-0 winners in five innings over Pleasant Hope in the other semifinal. After losing in the district title game each of the previous two years, Trenton trailed 1-0 against Belle (18-6) but rallied for two in the third, three in the fourth and five in the sixth.

“I told them when we got on the bus to come down here,” Trenton coach Steve Richman said, “‘Live every minute of this; enjoy it. It’s something that thousands and thousands of great players have not had the chance to do.’ No matter what happens, we come out, and we enjoy it, have fun, but they’re taking advantage of it, living every second of it.”

After Fair’s hit turned the lineup over in the third inning, Branson recorded one of her three strikeouts for the second out, but Tasha Ewing followed with a single to move Fair to third. Branson then uncorked a wild pitch that scored Fair.

Suddenly staked to a 2-1 lead, Trenton starter Aubrey Utley (19-1) shut down Belle’s offense.

The senior allowed five hits in the first three innings, including two first-inning slap singles that put the Tigers up 1-0 before Trenton came to bat. In the final four innings, Utley allowed only three more hits — two in the top of the seventh inning with two outs and Belle down by nine runs.

She struck out only five but walked none, while allowing her first run in three playoff games and only the sixth of the season.

Trenton added insurance in the bottom of the fourth after Utley put the Tigers down in order on five pitches.

The Bulldogs opened the frame with three straight hits with senior Emily Anderson’s two-run double scoring Kylie Russell and Amber Maberry. The offense added five more in the sixth, scoring the first two on two walks and two Belle errors.

Lindsey Derry provided the final blow with a two-out two-RBI double, Trenton’s fourth two-base hit against Branson (16-4).

“It’s the semifinals game; it’s state,” said Anderson, who scored twice. “So no, I didn’t think it would be this much of a run. I thought it would be a closer game, but once we started playing at our level, we knew we would win.”

❯ Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) 4, Platte County 2

Platte County fell behind 4-0 before managing its only runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and five errors haunted the defending champions in Friday’s Class 3 semifinal loss — a rematch of last year’s title game.

The Pirates (24-8) committed three errors in the top of the second inning allowing Notre Dame to turn a leadoff walk to Alecia Glaus into a 1-0 lead without a hit. Two more errors led to two more Notre Dame runs in the fourth, and Platte County never recovered.

Starter Hayley Pypes allowed four runs — both in the fourth unearned — and struck out 14, while walking four.

Catcher Brianna Corwin’s two-run home run in the sixth off of Notre Dame’s Lauren Reinagel provided the Pirates’ runs. Sydney Reynolds scored on Corwin’s blast after a one-out triple, giving Platte County two of its five hits in the inning.

Platte County falls into today’s third-place game against Republic (20-11), a 1-0, 11-inning loser in the other semifinal to Kirksville.