BALLWIN — The Parkway Central softball team was about as close to elimination as a team can be.

But down 4-1 with two outs and no one on, the Colts managed to come away with an unlikely 5-4 victory over Fort Zumwalt South on Monday evening in Class 4 quarterfinal action at the Ballwin Athletic Association.

With the victory, Central (22-7) earns a spot in Friday's 2:30 p.m. semifinal against Jefferson City (22-1) at the Heritage Park Sports Complex in St. Joseph. The state trip is the Colts' fifth, but their first since 1987.

Zumwalt South finished 22-7.

"One of the things I just love about this team is the fact that it won't quit,'' Central coach Tim Cerutti said. "Obviously, Zumwalt South ran into a little trouble there at the end, but our girls had some real disciplined at-bats. They just never stopped believing.''

South ace Lexy Moore entered the seventh having allowed three hits and a pair of walks. But after fanning the first two Central hitters — her 12th and 13th strikeouts of the game — Moore missed on a 3-2 pitch to the Colts' Alyssa Waltz and never did get out No. 21. Following an error and a walk to load the bases, Central's Cassie Rupel blooped a hit to short left, making it 4-2.

After walks to Lori Jones and Emily Greenstein tied the score, Moore threw a 2-0 wild pitch that allowed Rupel, the Central pitcher, to race home with the winning run.

"Lexy just lost it,'' South coach Kelly O'Bryan said. "That's something we hadn't seen from her all year. It makes you go back and think of all the little things you could have done throughout the game that could have gotten you a couple more runs where you would have sealed the deal. It wasn't in the cards for us today. It's just sad because we were on a roll."

South scored a run in the first and added three in the fifth on two bunts, a Kacey Scharnhorst two-run double and a Kayla Lockwood base hit.

Central's Greenstein got the Colts on the board with a run-scoring double in the sixth.