Lady Pirates advance to state semis with 14-4 win over Van Buren
The Van Buren Black Knights went into the May 27 OHSAA Division 3 Regional final against Cardington-Lincoln with a 25-1 record and tons of well-earned confidence. The match-up was billed as a thriller to come, as the Lady Pirates were 23-3 and were coming off a monster 29-4 tournament bombing of Tinora.
When Cardington put up two runs in the first inning of the semifinal and Van Buren countered with a run in the second, the fans believed that an epic battle was under way. However, Cardington put the dream and the game to rest with a six-run third and a two-run fourth to take a 10-1 lead and ostensibly put the game on ice. Van Buren came back with a deuce in the fourth and C-L got one of those back, and ahead 11-4 in the fifth, the Pirates tacked on three more in the sixth to set the mercy rule in effect to end the game at 14-4.
After Van Buren was set down in order in the top of the first, C-L took a 1-0 lead in its half on a two-out error, a walk to Riley Burchett and a run-scoring line drive single by Abbi Hardwick. Ari Simpson followed with an RBI single to left and it was 2-0, Pirates.
The game-changing third inning started with a lead-off single by Dana Bertke and a one-out walk to Burchett. Hardwick’s bunt single loaded the bases. With the count 2-0, Simpson cleared the bases with a grand slam to left to make it 6-1, Pirates. A single by Kayleigh Ufferman and a walk to Emalee Artz preceded a two-out, two-run triple by Mikayla Linkous, putting the score at 8-1.
Ahead 11-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Cardington-Lincoln put the game away for good on a single by Hardwick, a walk to Simpson, a one-out error that allowed a run to score, and a two-out bunt single by Linkous to put runners at the corners. Bertke singled in C-L’s 13th run and an error on a hard-hit ground ball by Hailee Edgell brought in run No. 14 to invoke the mercy rule, ending the game.
Cardington-Lincoln played errorless ball while the Vikes misplayed four, and C-L outhit Van Buren 15-7. Seven Lady Pirates connected for hits, with Linkous, Bertke and Hardwick getting three hits each, and Simpson and Ufferman each reached base on two hits. Simpson’s grand slam and single accounted for five RBIs, and Linkous and Bertke each drove in two runs. Nine different Lady Pirates scored runs, with Burchett crossing home plate three times.
The Lady Pirates stole six bases – two by Bertke – to one for Van Buren, and Genevieve Longsdorf and Simpson combined in the circle to get the win.
With the win, Cardington-Lincoln moves on to the state semifinals to meet Wheelersburg at Akron Firestone Stadium on June 3.
Lady Freddies' season ended by Miami East Vikings, 10-0
The Divisional 3 Regional final match between the Fredericktown Lady Freddies and the Lady Vikings of Casstown Miami East was postponed a day, and when play finally started on May 28, it was all Miami East.
The Freddies came in with 17 wins, having just knocked off West Jefferson, 2-0, Jamestown-Monroe, 5-2, and Arcanum, 5-3, in tournament play.
This game went Miami East’s way from the beginning as the 22-4 Lady Vikings stretched their winning streak to six straight with a run in the first, five runs in the second and four in the third to take a 10-0 lead. The Lady Freddies were never able to mount a real threat, as Miami East’s pitcher, Kyleigh Kirby, held Fredericktown to two hits and a walk while the defense behind her played errorless ball. Fredericktown was victimized by two errors that allowed six unearned runs to score. Miranda Payne and Trinity Garretson each singled for Fredericktown and Julia Partington worked a walk, but that was all of the offense Fredericktown could mount.
A very strong Lady Freddies season ended one game short of the state semis. The winner moved on to the state semifinals to meet Massillon Tuslaw at Akron Firestone Stadium for a chance to meet the winner of the Cardington-Lincoln-Wheelersburg game.
