If not for breakfast, winning third place in the 18th Annual Austin Elks Lodge Softball Invite might have been an empty feeling for the Austin High squad.

Rain and snow canceled the final round of play for the Elks Invite Saturday morning at the Todd Park Softball Complex in Austin, with the host Packers waiting to play North St. Paul in the third-place match at 10:30 a.m.

Austin (8-2, 7-1) was awarded third place without a game on the basis of run-differential between them and the Polars. Lakeville and Simley tentatively scheduled the postponed championship game for May 7.

"They took the hardware home with them and they were going to take care of it up there," Austin coach Todd Waterbury said after the Elks' breakfast Saturday morning.

The Packers fell in the semifinal round to defending tournament champion Lakeville Panthers Friday night by a 2-1 score. Austin scrambled back to tie the game at 1-1 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, but Lakeville ended the suspense with a run in the bottom half.

"That was just the typical game between us," said Lakeville coach Randy Schmitz. "It was a great battle defensively, there were some hard-hit balls that were caught, and both pitchers did a great job.

"There was a lot of tension to the game."

Lakeville (5-3, 3-2) is the defending Section 1AAA champion -- eventually finishing second in state last season -- and has built a steady rivalry with Austin during section tournaments. After Friday night's 2-1 loss, the Packers are already eying a rematch somewhere along the tournament trail.

"We're looking forward to playing them again," said Packer junior Steph Sundberg, whose two-out double in the top of the seventh set the table for the tying run. "It was a solid game all-around by both teams. I was disappointed to see us lose that one.

"It was a good feeling we came back, but it stinks we lost."

Freshman Angie Rohne delivered the pinch-hit single to right field, scoring Sundberg from second base as the tying run. Stacy Draayer re-entered to run for Rohne, and moved to second on Chelsea McColley's single over the outstretched glove of Lakeville's shortstop, but a groundout ended the Austin threat.

"There's no way to duplicate those game situations in practice," Coach Waterbury said. "We made this team a better team today. We're going to walk out of here a better club."

Early on Hill-Murray

The Packers jumped on top of Hill-Murray for three runs in the first inning en route to a 3-0 win in their Elks Invite opener. Austin pitcher Amy Kelly struck out seven, scattered six hits and walked none as the Pioneers only once moved a runner to third base.

Austin accumulated just four hits but manufactured three runs in the bottom of the first with the help of leadoff walks to McColley and Hingeveld. Kylene Erstad singled to right for an RBI, Hingeveld scored on a wild pitch, and Kelly plated Erstad with a groundout.

The Packers played a game of error-free defense in the first-round victory, highlighted by Erstad's lunging catch of a sacrifice bunt attempt and subsequent double play after Hill-Murray's Nikki Then -- who was 2-3 with a double -- strayed too far from first base.

Kelly struck out five of the last seven batters she faced, and Austin eased its way into the second round.

"It's nice to know we're going to be able to depend on the glove and the defense," Coach Waterbury said. "Overall it was a really nice performance defensively (on Friday)."

Moving on up

The Pack advanced into Friday night's semifinal round against Lakeville, who overcame a lackluster effort to win a 5-3 first-round affair over South St. Paul. The Panthers, playing as the home team on the scoreboard, pushed across a solo run in the fifth with two outs and added the game-winner after sustaining Austin's charge in the seventh.

Megan Kehrer moved around to third after a one-out single in the fifth and scored on Katie Scipioni's line-drive off Kelly's glove. The deflected ball rolled slowly towards McColley at second, who was unable to make the play to first in time to get Lakeville's leadoff hitter at first.

Scipioni did the damage in the bottom of the seventh as well, driving in the game-winner with one out and the bases loaded. Kelly uncharacteristically hit the first two Panther batters and then issued a rare walk after throwing a wild pitch. Kelly's counterpart Darcie Neumann grounded back to her, and the play to the plate was in time for the force-out. Scipioni came up and delivered the knock-out shot to left field.

Sundberg, who scored the tying run in the top of the seventh, was one of two Packers with two hits. Sundberg went 2-2 with a double, a walk and a run scored, while McColley was 2-4 with two singles. Rohne's only plate appearance resulted in a game-tying RBI.

"Rohne came in to get the hit, and even Steph Sundberg setting the table, what a beautiful double," Waterbury said. "The playing ability is definitely there, it's nice to see the mental part is there too."

The Packers return to Big Nine Conference play on Tuesday when they travel to Rochester John Marshall for their only league meeting with the Rockets at 5 p.m.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.

All-Tournament Team:

Lakeville: Katie Scipioni, Kristin Vivant

Austin: Chelsea McColley, Amy Kelly

Hill-Murray: April Carlson

Rochester Mayo: Brittany Rathbun

Simley: Erin Kegley, Sarah Datko

North St. Paul: Emily McNamara, Jenny Schipp

Eden Prairie: Taylor Tierney

South St. Paul: Shiana Schultz

Tournament Scores:

First Round

Austin 3, Hill-Murray 0

Lakeville 5, South St. Paul 3

Simley 2, Eden Prairie 1

North St. Paul 6, Rochester Mayo 4 in 10 innings

Second Round

Championship Semifinals

Lakeville 2, Austin 1

Simley 5, North St. Paul 3

Consolation Semifinals

South St. Paul 9, Hill-Murray 8

Eden Prairie 7, Rochester Mayo 0

Finals*

First Place

Lakeville vs. Simley

Third Place

Austin vs. North St. Paul

Fifth Place

South St. Paul vs. Eden Prairie

Seventh Place

Hill-Murray vs. Rochester Mayo

*Notes -- The final round of the 18th Annual Austin Elks Lodge Softball Invitational was

canceled because of inclement weather in Austin Saturday morning.