CLARION — The skies threatened to unleash a storm, but Karns City's bats beat them to it.

The Gremlins lashed out 18 hits, including their first three over-the-fence home runs of the season, in defeating top-seeded Moniteau 15-5 in the District 9 Class AA softball championship game Wednesday at Weaver Field.

The victory handed Karns City the first district softball title in the program's 10-year history and denied the Warriors a third consecutive crown.

"They really hit the ball well today," Moniteau coach Dan Hindman said. "They just plain beat us."

Winning pitcher Brandi Dunkle was staked to an 8-0 lead in the first inning and a half. All eight runs were scored with two outs.

With two outs and none on in the top of the first, Samantha Bly, Dunkle, Lisa Kaylor, Brooke Hiles and Haley Bachman all singled against Maura McCaslin, producing three runs.

Breezzie Rich doubled to lead off the Gremlins' second inning, but was still standing on second base with two outs. Bly then blasted a towering two-run homer to left.

Dunkle singled to left and Kaylor walked before Hiles, a sophomore, drilled a three-run homer well over the center-field fence.

"This was definitely our best hitting game," Bly said. "We get down as a team every now and then, but when we start hitting, we stay up for the rest of the game."

The Warriors pulled within 8-5 by scoring twice in the second inning and three times in the third. Britney Fallen had a run-scoring single and Alex Guercio an RBI double to spark Moniteau's rally.

"We expected this to be a battle all the way through," Dunkle said. "We're a battling team and so are they."

But Gremlins pinch-hitter Becky Todorich delivered with a run-scoring single in the fourth and Dunkle hit a two-run homer to center in the fifth, hiking the KC lead to 11-5.

After a 30-minute lightning delay in the sixth, the teams returned to the field and the Gremlins put up a four-spot. Moniteau went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and KC won via the 10-run rule.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised (at KC's 18 hits)," Karns City coach Mike Simpson said. "We made some adjustments in our lineup a couple of games ago and we've been hitting the ball ever since."

The No. 3 through 6 hitters in the KC batting order, Bly, Dunkle, Kaylor and Hiles, were a combined 12-for-18 with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI.

"We turned the tables today," Simpson said. "When Moniteau beat us earlier in the year, their three through six hitters killed us."

The Warriors posted a 9-5 win in the only regular season meeting between the teams.

Karns City got at least one hit from every position in the batting order Wednesday.

"Maura was having a little trouble with her changeup, but they were hitting pretty much everything," Hindman said. "I can't say that our layoff or anything played a major factor in this game.

"They hit better than we did. Sometimes hitting is there, sometimes it's not."

Moniteau committed four errors and misplayed a couple of fly balls in the contest to further fuel Karns City's attack. The Warriors had not played a game in two weeks.

"This just wasn't our day," Hindman said. "We lose only one senior from our starting lineup and that's Maura. She leaves big shoes to fill, but we basically overachieved this year with a young team."

The Gremlins finally achieved an elusive district title.

Bly and Dunkle are four-year starters for Karns City.

"This feels so good, especially since it happened in our senior year," Dunkle said.

"You could feel the whole team coming together a little bit more each year," Bly said. "This year, there's been no issues, no drama.

"We're all playing together and it showed."

Karns City 350 124 x — 15 18 1Moniteau 023 000 x — 5 8 4W: Brandi Dunkle (6 IP) 3 K, 1 BB.

L: Maura McCaslin (5 1/3 IP) 3 K, 3 BB.

Karns City (10-4): Lauren Downs 1B RBI, Ceanca Everetts 1B, Samantha Bly HR 3B 2-1B 3-RBI 4-R, Brandi Dunkle HR 2-1B 3-RBI 3-R, Lisa Kaylor 2-1B RBI 2-R, Brooke Hiles HR 2-1B 4-RBI, Haley Bachman 1B, Becky Todorich 1B RBI, Breezzie Rich 2B 1B 2-R

Moniteau (12-5): Maura McCaslin 2B 1B, Tiffany McCall 1B, Alex Guercio 2B 1B RBI, Ashley Lominski 1B RBI, Autumn Neff RBI, Britney Fallen 2-1B RBI, Alyssa Claypoole RBI

Monday: Karns City vs. Riverside-Sto-Rox winner in PIAA playoffs