Staff report
FAIRBORN — Sidney made the long trip to Fairborn for a Division 1 Sectional softball game between the 14th-seeded Lady Jackets and No. 13 Lady Skyhawks.
And despite Fairborn being the better seed, it was all Sidney in a 16-3 run-rule verdict in just five innings.
The Lady Jackets evened their record at 13-13, and the game actually counted as a league game too. Sidney is now 10-5 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference North.
“We just rocked their starting pitcher,” said Sidney coach Wade New. “It was a nice win. I felt going in that we had a good shot at a win. They won the (GWOC) South, but I felt like the North was a much stronger division. But I never expected the game to go as it did.”
Sidney trailed 1-0 after an inning but got three in the second, five in the third and seven in the fourth to open up a 15-1 bulge.
Grace Shell, who struck out six in getting the win, was 3-for-4 with a double for Sidney, Summer Inman, Kacey Swiger and Emily Knasel all singled and doubled, and Hayden Spurgeon added two singles in Sidney’s 17-hit onslaught.
Swiger had four runs batted in, and Shell, Inman and Spurgeon two each. And Spurgeon also scored three times.
The Lady Jackets advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday and will again have to make a long trip, to No. 6 seed Springboro. Springboro needed a three-run fifth to get past 17th seed Piqua 3-2 on Monday.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Sidney`035 71—16`17`1
Fairborn`100 11—3`5`6
WP: Shell; LP: Rice
Records: Sidney 13-13, Fairborn 12-10.
——
Russia 27, Fairlawn 0
RUSSIA — Russia moved to within two games of a perfect County season and clinched an outright league title with a 27-0 rout of visiting Fairlawn in softball action Monday.
The Lady Raiders are now 10-0 in the County and 17-6 overall. They hold a three-game lead over second-place Houston with just two to play, starting with Friday at Fort Loramie.
Russia led 9-0 after two innings, then scored 19 in their next two at-bats, leaving the Lady Jets 1-9 in the league and 1-16 overall.
Maria Herron had four hits, including two doubles, to lead Russia’s 22-hit attack. Savanah Albers and Mishaylee O’Reilly had three hits apiece and Maddie Borchers and Katie Schwartz two hits each.
Borchers was the winning pitcher, striking out 10 in five innings.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Fairlawn`000 00—0`1`4
Russia`639 (10)x—29`22`0
WP: Borchers; LP: Weigandt.
Records: Russia 17-6, Fairlawn 1-16.
——
Loramie 17, Jackson 7
JACKSON CENTER — Fort Loramie won for the sixth time in its last nine games, breaking open a close game with six runs in the fourth and going on to beat Jackson Center in County play Monday 17-7.
The Lady Redskins go to 7-4 in the league, good enough for sole possession of third place, and are now 9-14 overall.
The Lady Tigers are 3-6 and 6-10.
The score was knotted at 4-4 after three innings before Loramie got six in the top of the fourth. The Lady Redskins added three in the sixth and five in the seventh.
Loramie pounded out 16 hits, with Desiree Fogt getting three of them. One was a triple and another was a double, and she drove in four runs and also scored twice.
Abby Holthaus, Megan Koppin, Morgan Holscher, Gabriel Olberding and Grace Ruhenkamp all had two hits apiece, with Holscher, Olberding and Jasi Piatt all driving in two run. Megan Imwalle scored four times, and one of Holthaus’s hits was a double.
Cassie Meyer and Camryn Hoehne both tripled for Jackson Center and Raquel Kessler smacked a home run.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Loramie`103 603 5—17`16`3
Jackson`310 201 x—7`7`4
WP: Frilling; LP: Rogers
Records: Loramie 9-14, Jackson 6-10.
——
Anna 15, Botkins 5
ANNA — Anna scored in every inning in run-ruling Botkins 15-5 in the third County game of the night Monday.
The Lady Rockets are now 6-5 in the league and 7-9 overall. Botkins is 1-8 and 1-15.
Chloe Spence of Anna was 3-for-3 to lead a 12-hit attack. Macy Richard singled and doubled, and Taylor Spence and Tiffany Ferguson both had two hits.
Ashleigh Gibson was 3-for-4 with a double for the Lady Trojans.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Botkikns`010`04—5`5`3
Anna`245 31—15`12`1
WP: Ontrop; LP: Skinner
Records: Anna 7-9, Botkins 1-15.
COUNTY STANDINGS
`League`All
`W-L`W-L
Russia`10-0`17-6
Houston`7-3`12-11
Loramie`7-4`9-14
Anna`6-5`7-9
Jackson`3-6`6-10
Botkins`1-8`1-15
Fairlawn`1-9`1-16
——
Houston 21, Lehman 4
HOUSTON — Houston had the night off from County play and used it to tune up for the sectional. They hosted Lehman and rolled to a 21-4 win in five innings.
Lehman led 2-0 after scoring in the top of the second, but Houston responded with 11 in the bottom of the inning, even though the first two batters in the inning made outs.
Sarah Monnier had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in four runs for Houston. Ally Foster singled and doubled, Olivia Bowser had two hits, Jenna Jarrett singled and doubled, and Kaytlyn Riffel and Rebekah New both doubled.
For Lehman, Grace Monnin had a two-run homer, her sixth round-tripper of the season, and Angela Brunner had two singles.
“That’s the best we’ve hit the ball in a long time,” said Houston coach Brent New.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Lehman`022 00—4`3`4
Housston`0(11)9 1x—21`14`2
WP: Foster; LP: Wick
Records: Houston 12-11, Lehman 8-11.
——
D-3 Sectional
Triad 8, Versailles 4
VERSAILLES — Seventh-seeded Triad pulled off a mild upset, beating No. 6 seed Versailles in a first-round Division 3 Sectional softball game Monday at Versailles, 8-4.
The loss left the Lady Tigers at 15-9 on the season with still some conference games remaining.
For Versailles, Anna Gehret and Kami McEldowney had three hits apiece and Hailey McEldowney had two hits, including a double and a triple.
The linescore:
`R`H`E
Triad`202 120 1—8`10`0
Versailles`012 000 1—4`12`2
Records: Versailles 15-9, Triad 14-10.
