CLAYTON — Fort Loramie struggled to hit until late in a Division IV regional semifinal on Wednesday and had a remarkable postseason run end.

The Redskins lost 5-0 to Tri-Village in the first of two regional semifinals at Northmont High School and finish 22-10 overall. The Patriots (24-1) advance to face Minster, which beat Fayetteville-Perry 5-2 in the second semifinal on Wednesday.

Fort Loramie had hit well in tournament games but didn’t get a hit off Tri-Village sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Poling until the sixth. She was removed after giving up two hits to start the seventh, and freshman Emma Greer closed it out by retiring the next three batters.

Poling gave up three hits and struck out four batters; she walked the first batter of the game and didn’t walk any more. Greer struck out one in the seventh.

“She’s good,” Fort Loramie coach Brad Turner said of Poling. “She did the same type of thing to a really good Southeastern team (in a district final) and kept them off balance and kept them from scoring runs.

“We just we didn’t barrel much. We got some balls lifted, we knew that the wind was going to be blowing in and pop ups were going be very inefficient for us. We didn’t get many quality at-bats throughout and just failed to make anything happen.”

Fort Loramie senior pitcher Kate Ruhenkamp gave up four earned runs on 12 hits and two walks while striking out one.

Ruhenkamp was named Shelby County Athletic League player of the year and was named second team all-Southwest district earlier this week. She is the program’s career strikeouts and wins leader; she had a 2.60 ERA this season with 169 strikeouts in 153 1/3 innings.

Fort Loramie will also lose Jaden Rose, Carlie Goubeaux, Morgan Pleiman, Alex Rose, Ava Stewart, Ashlee Hess, Carissa Meyer and Ashlyn Eilerman to graduation. Goubeaux was a first team all-SCAL selection, and Pleiman and Alex Rose were honorable mention selections.

“I take tremendous joy, and pride, the fact that all nine of them started playing as freshmen and they stayed together throughout,” Turner said. “With knowing the talent that was in the junior class, in the year below them, they stayed with it knowing that the opportunities for playing time was probably going to be kind of limited.

“The fact that kids like that still want to be part of your program and be involved, I take that as a great compliment. I’m very happy that all nine of them stuck with us.”

Tri-Village took a 1-0 lead in the first. Tai Mize led off the game with a double to left field, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a ground out. The Patriots had two more singles, but Ruhenkamp coaxed a ground out to get out of the inning.

The Patriots scored two more in the second. Kaley Brandon reached on an error after hitting a grounder to third, then Ruhenkamp hit Aereonna Baker with a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt, Mize hit a two-run single on a hard ground ball to right field.

The Patriots added two more in the seventh. Baker hit a two-out double to left field to drive in two runs.

Meyer hit a double to center field in the sixth for Fort Loramie, and the squad hit more in the seventh.

Claire Hoying hit a line-drive single to center and Autumn Turner, who is Brad Turner’s daughter, followed with a single on a hard grounder to center. But the Patriots put in Greer to relieve Poling, and she retired the next three batters in order.

“I had no doubt that we would continue to fight and push and work,” Turner said. “We finally had a couple of balls get barreled. Just too little too late.

“I was feeling pretty good going into the seventh. Them getting those two runs in the seventh was very deflating. But I’m very, very, very pleased with the fight with these girls have given all year long.”

Camryn Osborne was 3 for 4 with one double for the Patriots. Mize was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs and one double. Mylee Bierly and Greer were each 2 for 4; Greer hit one double.

Friday’s regional final is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

Minster 5, Fayetteville-Perry 2

It came down to someone finally getting a big hit in Wednesday’s second regional semifinal. Minster senior first baseman Mikaela Hoskins did in the seventh.

Even with a strong wind blowing in, Hoskins sent a line drive several feet over the center-field fence to lift the Wildcats to a 5-2 victory over Fayetteville-Perry. Minster advances to face Tri-Village in Friday’s regional final.

Minster, which was ranked No. 2 in Div. IV in the final state coaches association poll of the season, will be playing for its second regional title and state berth in program history. The Wildcats last won a regional title in 2014.

The Rockets and Wildcats (28-1) traded runs until the seventh.

Rylin Trego hit a single on a hard ground ball to center field with one out and Addi Inskeep followed with a line drive single to center. After accruing a 3-1 count at the plate, Hoskins found a pitch to hit.

“It was a screwball on the inside, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates being on third and second right then and there,” Hoskins said. “Felt pretty good to have him on base.

“I didn’t know (it was going out). I was rounding one, and the center fielder is just kind of sitting there. Dead. And then it’s like, there it goes.”

Fayetteville-Perry starter Izabella Waddle entered with a 1.37 ERA and had struck out 244 batters in 123 innings. Minster got eight hits off her and drew five walks while striking out five times.

It’s the latest strong hitting performance for the Wildcats, which have a .364 team batting average.

“All of us are amazing hitters, and I wouldn’t want to be a pitcher to face us,” Hoskins said.

Minster junior pitcher Brooklyn Osterloh gave up one earned run on four hits and struck out eight batters without walking any.

Minster took a 1-0 lead in the first after a double on a line drive to left field by Emma Linn and an RBI single on a hard ground ball to center by Albers.

The Rockets tied it in the fourth after Lilly Carlier led off the inning with a double on a line drive to left. She moved to second on a ground out and scored after Hailee Albers made an error after fielding a ground ball.

The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Reece Albers led off the inning with a line drive single to center. She moved to second on a passed ball, third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball.

The Rockets tied it again in the bottom half after a two-out double by Ava Wells to left drove in one run.

Minster went down in order in the sixth but got the hits it needed in the seventh.

Fayetteville-Perry finishes 18-6 overall.

Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).