Benjamin Logan 7, Indian Lake 1
The Benjamin Logan Lady Raiders celebrated Senior Day in style Thursday, using a dominant six-run fourth inning and a strong performance in the circle from Adilynne Gregg to defeat Indian Lake 7-1 and complete the season sweep over the Lakers.
Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings in a tightly contested pitchers’ duel. Gregg worked around early traffic, stranding one runner in each of the first three innings while allowing just two hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Indian Lake starter Makayle Clary was equally sharp early, scattering three hits and a walk while getting solid defensive support behind her.
Indian Lake struck first in the fourth when Kyler Carruthers singled, advanced on an error, and later scored on an RBI single up the middle from Brylee Buyer to give the Lakers a brief 1-0 lead.
That advantage disappeared quickly in the bottom half. Benjamin Logan erupted for six runs before recording an out, beginning with a leadoff walk to Kylie Harner. Rylan Norviel tied the game with an RBI double, and Gregg followed with an RBI triple to put the Raiders in front. Jaylyn Parker added an RBI single, Neveah Fogle delivered a two-run double, and Brielle Kline later drew a bases-loaded walk to cap the huge inning.
Benjamin Logan added an insurance run in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Fogle, while Gregg settled back in and kept the Lakers off the board the rest of the way.
Gregg finished with a complete-game effort, allowing no earned runs on five hits while striking out five. Harner and Norviel each recorded two hits, while Fogle drove in three runs to lead the offense.
Benjamin Logan improved to 9-10 and will hit the road Friday for a tough matchup against Jonathan Alder. Indian Lake dropped its third straight game to fall to 5-15 and is set to face Graham next.
Urbana 17, Tecumseh 8
The Urbana Lady Hillclimbers stayed red hot Thursday, extending their winning streak to seven games with a 17-8 win over Tecumseh to complete a season sweep of the Arrows.
Urbana wasted no time getting started. Chloe Easterday reached after a long at-bat in the first, stole second, advanced to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Bailee Packer. Moments later, Morgan Boyd launched a two-run homer to give the Hillclimbers a 2-0 lead.
The game broke wide open in the second, when Urbana exploded for eight runs. With the bases loaded, Easterday drew a walk before Boyd lined a two-run single. Packer then crushed a three-run homer to center for her ninth home run of the season. Morgan Hoffman added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, and Isla Wooten capped the frame with an RBI single as Urbana built a commanding 10-0 advantage.
Tecumseh chipped away with four runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, but Urbana answered every push. Addie Fox delivered an RBI double in the fifth, later stealing third and scoring, while Packer and Hoffman each drove in additional runs to keep the margin comfortable.
The Lady Hillclimbers added two more in the sixth and another pair in the seventh before closing out the win.
Packer delivered another monster offensive performance, finishing 4-for-5 with five RBIs, while Fox went 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Easterday, Boyd, and Hoffman each collected two hits as Urbana totaled 17 runs on a balanced offensive attack.
Urbana improved to 16-6 and now heads into a major CBC showdown Friday against Shawnee.
West Liberty-Salem 10, Greenon 7
West Liberty-Salem extended its winning streak to four games Thursday, holding off Greenon 10-7 in a back-and-forth non-conference victory.
Greenon opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the first, but the Tigers answered immediately. Kiersten Stoll tripled to lead off the bottom half before Karlee Lucas tied the game with an RBI single. Just one batter later, Reichardt blasted a two-run homer over the left-field fence to quickly put West Liberty-Salem ahead 3-1.
The Tigers added another in the second when Taylor Cook scored on a passed ball, but Greenon responded with two runs in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. West Liberty-Salem answered again in the bottom half, with Emily King scoring on a passed ball.
After Greenon pulled within one run again in the fifth, the Tigers delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the inning. Reichardt walked, Ashlyn Yeater doubled, and an error brought in a run before Kaylee Blair ripped an RBI triple to center. Branham later drove Blair home to extend the lead to 9-4.
West Liberty-Salem added one more insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from King, which proved important after Greenon mounted a late rally in the seventh before the Tigers recorded the final out with a runner thrown out at home.
The Tigers got contributions all throughout the lineup, with eight different players recording hits. Stoll, Yeater, and Cook each had two hits, while Blair and Reichardt each drove in two runs.
West Liberty-Salem improved to 8-13 and will close the regular season Monday against Greeneview.
London 10, Bellefontaine 6
London bounced back from Monday’s loss to Bellefontaine by using a seven-run fourth inning to defeat the Lady Chieftains 10-6 and split the season series.
Bellefontaine started strong, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Cameo Greene led off with a single, stole second, and scored on an RBI double from Addison Wical. Wical later came home on a passed ball to give the Chiefs early momentum.
London got on the board in the third, but Bellefontaine answered right back when Wical stole home to make it 3-1.
The game turned in the fourth, when London capitalized on several Bellefontaine miscues and erupted for seven runs. The Red Raiders combined timely hitting, aggressive baserunning, walks, and multiple Lady Chief errors to suddenly flip the game and take an 8-3 lead.
Bellefontaine responded with two runs in the fifth, highlighted by a bases-loaded RBI single from Chloe Heminger, but couldn’t fully recover.
London added two more insurance runs later before Wical capped her huge day with a solo home run in the seventh.
Wical was the clear standout for Bellefontaine, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs scored, two RBIs, and a home run. Heminger also added two hits.
Bellefontaine fell to 4-16 and will travel to Lima Bath next.
Southeastern 11, Mechanicsburg 1 (5 innings)
Mechanicsburg was handed an 11-1 run-rule loss Thursday as Southeastern pulled away late behind 14 hits and a five-run fifth inning.
The Lady Indians actually scored first in unusual fashion. Avery McDowell reached on a dropped third strike to open the game, and Bella Batkiewicz followed by reaching on an error that allowed McDowell to race all the way home for a 1-0 lead.
That was the extent of the offense for Mechanicsburg.
Southeastern answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, added a solo homer in the third, then broke things open with a three-run homer in the fourth. The Trojans ended the game in the fifth with five more runs to trigger the mercy rule.
Mechanicsburg was held hitless and did not draw a walk, relying entirely on Southeastern errors to generate baserunners. The Lady Indians also struck out 10 times offensively.
Mechanicsburg dropped to 4-13 and will travel to Triad next.
Shawnee 19, Graham 2
Graham was overpowered Thursday in a 19-2 run-rule loss to Shawnee, as the Lady Braves scored in every inning and piled up 21 hits.
Shawnee jumped ahead early with six runs in the first inning and never looked back, adding two in the second, five in the third, two in the fourth, and four more in the fifth.
Graham’s two runs came in the third inning after Elizabeth Friis singled and Malynn Bacher doubled to put runners in scoring position. Sophia Fraley brought home the first run with an RBI groundout, and Abby Chamberlain followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Bacher.
The Lady Falcons had a few other chances, stranding runners in multiple innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth.
Friis and Chamberlain each recorded two hits to lead Graham offensively, while Fraley and Chamberlain drove in the team’s two runs.
Graham fell to 5-15 and will look to bounce back against Indian Lake next.
