In spite of their season ending two wins shy of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Softball Championships, Mick Byrd’s Vienna Eagle softball team nonetheless opened a lot of eyes in this area of the state.

Winning all 22 of their regular season games, those victories came against Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) opponents, rivals and other district champions throughout the state.

Opening the season in late August, Vienna hosted Jamestown and St. Elizabeth in a Saturday doubleheader at Vienna City Park.

Eagle fans left happy as Vienna defeated Jamestown 16-6 and stung St. Elizabeth 9-2.

Before Labor Day, the Eagles hit the road for three straight games against Linn, St. James and Russellville.

Taming the Lady Wildcats 6-2 in Osage County, Vienna ventured south to face St. James’ Lady Tigers out of the always tough Four Rivers Conference (FRC).

Trailing early in the game, Vienna used a late-inning rally to pull away from St. James for a 12-5 victory.

Taking on the Lady Indians in Russellville the day after Labor Day, Vienna needed extra innings to keep their record unblemished.

Battling through eight scoreless innings, Karissa Feeler scored the game’s lone run on a Gabby Wilkinson RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning of Vienna’s 1-0 extra-inning win at Russellville.

Two days later host Salem’s Lady Tigers, the Eagles needed some more late-inning heroics against the visitors from Dent County.

After Wilkinson drove in the winning run against Russellville, she got to score the game-winning run against Salem on a Jada Kleffner RBI single to center field giving the Eagles a 7-6 victory.

Sporting red and blue socks in honor of September 11, Vienna opened the GVC portion of their season on the road in Cuba against the Lady Wildcats.

Needing just five innings, the Eagles opened conference play with a 12-2 victory over Cuba.

Returning home two days later to host Dixon, Vienna made it eight wins in a row to start the season following an 8-2 win over the visiting Lady Bulldogs.

Recognizing Vienna’s youth softball teams before their September 14 showdown with Newburg, the future of Eagle softball was treated to 23-2 victory in three innings by Vienna over the Lady Wolves.

September 17 gave Vienna a chance at avenging last year’s district title game loss to Calvary Lutheran’s Lady Lions.

That mission was accomplished when the Eagles outscored the Lions 4-0 from the bottom of the fifth inning on to post a 4-1 victory.

Now sitting at 10-0 after their revenge victory over Calvary Lutheran, Vienna went for number 11 on the road at Laquey against the Lady Hornets.

Stinging Laquey 15-0 in five innings, the Eagles kept their undefeated record intact at 11-0.

Hosting School of the Osage, Vienna’s undefeated was in jeopardy as they trailed the Lady Indians 6-1 at the midway point of varsity action.

Scoring four runs in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and one in the sixth, the Eagles plated eight unanswered runs for a 9-6 win over Class 3 Osage.

Opening the tournament portion of their season on September 22 in Richland, Vienna faced the host Lady Bears, Crocker’s Lady Lions and Cuba in the round-robin formatted tournament.

Dispatching Richland and Cuba by scores of 16-6 and 13-3 respectively, Vienna’s only road block to a tournament title in Bear country was Crocker.

In the title game, action was knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning until Wilkinson led off with a double before eventually scoring the tournament-winning run on a Marsie Messersmith walk off RBI single for a 2-1 Vienna victory moving the Eagles to 15-0.

Three days after leaving Richland with championship hardware, Maries County softball bragging rights were on the line when Belle’s Lady Tigers paid a visit to western end of the county to face Vienna.

Belle had the Eagles in a 4-0 hole until Vienna plated a run in the top of the fifth and four more in the sixth inning to pull out a 5-4 victory.

Alexi Struemph delivered an RBI single that scored Feller with the eventual game-winning run against Belle.

Two days later in central Crawford County, the Eagles went for an outright GVC Championship in softball taking on Steelville’s Lady Cardinals.

Needing only three innings to complete the game, Vienna rolled to a 22-0 victory over the Lady Cardinals behind five RBIs from Feeler.

Another Saturday in September meant another tournament for Vienna softball.

Hosting their annual tournament, the Eagles welcomed Newburg, Laquey and Richland to town.

Outscoring their opponents in three games by a combined score of 48-1, Vienna easily kept the championship hardware in town following victories over Newburg (15-0), Laquey (23-0) and Richland (10-1).

Now with a school record 20 wins under their collective belts, Vienna softball looked to send off seniors Rachel Garro, Renee Logan and Jordyn Steffen on a proper note.

Playing Richland for the third time on senior night back on October 5, the Eagles only needed five innings to notch an 11-1 victory for their third win in as many tries against their Pulaski County foes.

October 9 was Vienna’s final regular season game on the road at Iberia. They were looking to secure a perfect 22-0 regular season on the softball diamond.

Hayes literally slammed Iberia with a sixth-inning grand slam home run helping the visiting Eagles to a 13-9 victory over the host Lady Rangers.

Earning the top seed and a first-round bye in the MSHSAA Class 1, District 5 Softball Tournament, Vienna faced fourth-seeded Leeton in the district semifinals on October 11.

Behind a 10-0 mercy-rule victory in five innings, the Eagles advanced to the district championship game against St. Elizabeth.

Originally scheduled for October 13, rain and wet field conditions kept the Eagles and host Lady Hornets from squaring off for the district title until October 16.

Scoring as many runs as St. Elizabeth did as a team, Kadence George scoring three of Vienna’s nine runs helping them claim the district championship.

Entering sectional play at 24-0, Vienna’s next opponent was the reigning Class 1 softball runner-up in Pilot Grove’s Lady Tigers.

Unable to hold on to a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, Vienna saw their magical season end at 24-1 following a 4-3 loss to Pilot Grove.

Earning All-District honors for Vienna were Steffen (first-team pitcher), Wilkinson (first-team catcher), Feeler (first-team infield).