ARCANUM – The Arcanum Lady Trojans took the field with the lone unblemished 2021 Cross County Conference record, coming into the night with an 8-0 mark to take on Ansonia and come away with a 4-0 win over the Lady Tigers and move to 9-0 in conference play.
“Doesn’t matter where I’m coaching, our games are always close with Ansonia,” said Arcanum coach, Mike Morris. “They are a good team, they’re young, good defensive team, they put the ball in play, their pitcher is a junior so they’re going to be real tough next year.”
“We had our chances,” Ansonia veteran coach, Floyd Jenkins said. “Arcanum made the plays and we didn’t but that’s five freshmen and a sophomore out there – we’ll be fine.”
The teams played a scoreless first-inning before the Lady Trojans would plate 2-runs in the bottom of the second to grab a 2-0 lead.
Innings three and four showcased pitching and defense for both the Darke County CCC teams.
Arcanum added 2-runs in the bottom of the fifth-inning for a 4-0 score that would stand up for the final score of the game.
“The kids are starting to buy into it a little bit,” said Arcanum coach, Mike Morris of bringing small-ball to the Lady Trojans. “We still have business to take care of. We’re 9-0 in the league so we still have a few more games to go and get ready for tournament.”
Arcanum freshman shortstop, Emilie Fout paced the Lady Trojans at the plate with a single and a triple, Ellie Fout and Meghan McCans each collected a double and Peyton Garbig had a single.
Abby Kramer knocked a double and a single for Ansonia and Kinsey Hartzell added a single for the Lady Tigers.
Garbig picked up the win for Arcanum on the mound, striking out 14 in earning the win.
“Our sectional is tough,” Coach Jenkins said of the approaching OHSAA tournament. “We have Mechanicsburg (No. 2 in state polls) and Bradford (3-way tie for No. 6) but I think we will be fine. We’re getting better every day. We have to stay positive and keep our heads up. We can hit the ball – we’ll be fine.”
“It’s up to us,” Morris said of Arcanum winning the CCC outright. “We have tough games with Covington and Miami East has beaten some teams. We still have Bethel, so it’s not going to be an easy road.”
