The Lady Patriots have rattled off seven straight wins thanks to their hitting and strong defense. Freshman Elizabeth Poling has also been solid on the mound during the stretch.
Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
DARKE COUNTY — Here are the notable games, scores and stats from the softball games on April 20.
Tri-Village 10 (9-5, 5-2) at Franklin Monroe 1 (5-10, 2-4)
The Lady Patriots continue their win streak with seven straight victories after a win at Franklin Monroe.
Tri-Village head coach Emily Osborne said the team has been hitting great during the winning streak and it continued in this game.
“We’ve been hitting lately, that was our momentum that we tried to keep going with. Hitting and having Liz on the mound to at least get us into the game. It went from there,” Osborne said.
The scoring started in the top of the third inning as the Lady Patriots had bases loaded with one out. With a disciplined approach at the plate, they scored a run after a hit batter and drew a walk to score in their second run. Sophomore Lauren Porter drove two more runs in on a single.
Franklin Monroe had chances to score, but Tri-Village made plays to keep the Lady Jets off the scoreboard. That included a triple play to get out of a bases loaded jam.
Franklin Monroe head coach Jared Morris said he hasn’t been happy with how the team has closed out games in their losses and thinks it could be a maturity thing. After that triple play, the momentum was in favor of Tri-Village.
“The wheels fell and continued to fall off quickly. That’s kind of where we’re at. Every game, we usually have at least one or two innings where it just gets bad. In most innings, we can hold team scoreless or at least to one run and we can compete with that,” Morris said.
Osborne said the defense carried that momentum to the plate. The team has been working hard on their defense from the start of the season. The hard work is starting not only show, but shine during this win streak.
“Our girls have been working hard, even in our warmups. They want to throw the ball as many times as they can,” Osborne said.
After adding a run in the fourth, Tri-Village scored two more in the fifth. Senior Ashlyn Burk drove a run in and another run scored after the batter was hit by a pitch. Later in the game, senior Alyssa Begoon drove in a run.
After the top of the sixth inning, Tri-Village was up 10-0. Franklin Monroe didn’t give up and scored a run in the sixth.
Freshman Alivia Addis led the inning off with a single. Eventually, junior Joanie Hall scored her in with a sacrifice groundout.
On the mound for the Lady Patriots, freshman Elizabeth Poling continues her impressive freshman campaign and closed out the game. Poling finished the game with eight strikeouts and allowed five hits.
For the Lady Jets, sophomore Lila Davis and senior Keihl Johnson combined for five strikeouts.
Franklin Monroe will travel to Arcanum on April 25 for a 5 p.m. conference showdown. Tri-Village will host Fort Recovery on April 24 at 5 p.m. and then host Bradford on April 25 at 5 p.m.
Around Darke County:
Ansonia (10-4, 6-1) defeats Preble Shawnee, 15-1. Junior Kelsey Muhlenkamp had three RBI in the game. Senior Kinsey Hartzell, junior Abby Kramer and freshman Ava Thatcher each had two RBI. Thatcher also had a three-hit day. On the mound, Kramer and freshman Abby Klingshirn combined to allow one hit and seven strikeouts. Ansonia will host Marion Local on April 24 at 5 p.m. and travel to National Trail on April 25 at 5 p.m.
Arcanum (10-4, 7-0) cruised through Twin Valley South, 18-0. Senior Brooklyn Ullery had three hits and four RBI. Junior Haley Smith had three hits and two RBI while junior Emilie Fout had three hits and a RBI. Senior Reece Blinn, sophomore Kenzie Byrne and junior Ashlyn Miller each had two RBI. Byrne also hit a home run. Juniors Belle Harleman and Hannah Kendig combined to allow one hit and had four strikeouts on the mound.
Bradford (5-6, 5-2) defeated Mississinawa Valley (1-12, 0-7), 17-0. The Lady Railroaders had 14 hits and scored 10 runs in the fourth inning. Bradford struck out nine batters. For Mississinawa Valley, freshman Josslyne Thornhill had a hit in the game. The Lady Blackhawks will host Tri-County North on April 25 at 5 p.m. The Lady Railroaders will travel to Tri-Village on April 25 at 5 p.m.
Greenville (10-4, 7-1) defeated Northeastern 9-0 at home. Freshman Kendall Cromwell had three hits and two RBI, including two doubles. Sophomore Zoey Burns had two RBI as well. Senior Kylie Hamm went all seven innings on the mound and allowed four hits with six strikeouts. The Lady Wave will travel to Piqua on April 24 at 5 p.m. and then will host Piqua on April 25 at 5 p.m.
Versailles (9-7, 2-2) defeated Brookville 10-4. The Lady Tigers scored three runs in the first inning and then scored seven runs in the fourth inning. The team had 14 hits in the game. The team will play at Covington on April 24 at 5 p.m. and then host Coldwater on April 25 at 5 p.m.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
