Winnetonka/Park Hill South Invitational softball title goes to Liberty North

On its way to the deepest postseason run in school history, the Liberty North High School softball team strung together a 20-game winning streak in 2014, and it all began with three victories in the Winnetonka Invitational.

A year later, they emerged from the Winnetonka/Park Hill South Softball Tournament on Saturday with another winning streak.

Liberty North won the Winnetonka Invitational over the weekend with four straight victories, including a 3-0 win against Park Hill South in the championship game.

Liberty North, which reached the Missouri Class 5 state quarterfinals last season, also notched wins against Summit Christian Academy, Raymore-Peculiar and Winnetonka in the tournament, which was played at Tiffany Hills Sports Complex.

“I’m not saying we’re going to achieve the same streak (as last season), but after winning that Park Hill South game, I know the girls think they can do that again,” Liberty North coach Brett Kisker said. “So I think that was a really big win just because it helped them believe in themselves a little bit more.”

In the center of the finals victory was Liberty North senior Olivia Prather, a returning all-state pitcher who threw a seven-inning, 114-pitch shutout. She added two hits at the plate, too.

Eight different Eagles had at least one hit in the championship win — Prather, Kelsey Templeton, Grace Moore, Kayla Maust, Kelsey Runge, Leah Thorne, Destiny Ojigoh and Kailee Knudsen.

But Kisker focused on another aspect of his team’s play throughout the tournament — its defense.

“We played some really solid defense, and that’s huge in big games,” Kisker said. “That was one of our strengths last year, but we’ve been trying to find our defense this year. We managed to put together a complete game in the championship. The team I saw show up for Park Hill South was much more like the team I remember from last year.”

Park Hill South, which entered the tournament ranked No. 4 in the area by KC Fast Pitch, defeated Staley 5-3 in the semifinals to reach the championship game.

Staley bounced back for a 7-0 win against Winnetonka in the fourth-place game.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Winnetonka/Park Hill South Invitational softball title goes to Liberty North."