Centralia met Winfield again in the Class 3 state quarterfinals and were able to reach the same result.
The No. 3 Lady Panthers are going to their second Final Four in three years after defeating No. 6 Winfield 3-0 in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game on Saturday afternoon in Centralia. Jaylynn Brown struck out 14 and allowed three hits and three walks. Brown moved into ninth in Missouri high school softball history with 1,073 strikeouts to move past West Platte's Abby Summers and sit behind Bevier's Valerie Teter's 1,083 strikeouts. After Brown wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the first inning, Ava Dixon (11 strikeouts, three hits, three walks and three earned runs in six innings) retired the first nine Centralia batters for Winfield (21-2). Blakely VanDyke was the first baserunner for Centralia (29-6) after drawing a walk to lead off the fourth inning, and she was moved around to third base where she scored on a Claire Page (2-for-3) single. Karli Andersen added insurance with a two-RBI double.
"These kids always come out and do things for each other," head coach Liz Bostick said. "Once we scored that one run, I was like, 'OK, we're finally where we need to be' and then Karli comes up with a two-run double. It was them working together and staying to the plan of manufacturing runs."
The junior Andersen said Centralia was confident after all the work the girls have done to get here.
"We had the same feeling my freshman year," Andersen said on how it feels to go to two Final Fours in three years. "It was the same team, same place, same time and everything, so we all had a good feeling about. "We've all been working hard towards this moments. We knew we could do it."
Centralia was eliminated in its first district game last year with a 3-1 loss to Hallsville despite being ranked No. 1 in the state. The junior VanDyke said they weren't going to let that happen again.
"Being ranked first in state last year boosted our confidence but also made us a little nervous because we knew everybody in the state wanted to beat us," VanDyke said. "Coming into this year knowing what happened last year and the sick feeling that it left with us, it was a feeling that none of us wanted to have again. We worked this season, and I'm really proud of my teammates."
Centralia plays Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) (20-9) at 11 a.m. Friday at Killian Sofball Complex in Springfield. The winner plays either No. 4 Southern Boone (27-2) or No. 2 Oak Grove (27-5) in the state championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the loser plays for third place at 3 p.m. Friday.
Read the full story in the Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
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