By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the softball games from April 15 – 17.

Franklin Monroe (4-11, 3-2) vs Bradford (4-7, 2-3)

The Lady Jets and the Lady Railroaders went into their conference matchup coming off different results in their previous games. Franklin Monroe lost 2-0 at Bellbrook on April 15 and lost 2-1 in eight innings at Tri-County North. Junior Lila Davis scored the only run for Franklin Monroe during that stretch. Senior Keihl Johnosn pitched complete games and had four strikeouts against Bellbrook and nine strikeouts against TCN.

At home, Bradford defeated Celina and Preble Shawnee on back to back days. They won 7-6 on April 15 over Celina. Freshman Lilly Canan had two RBI. Sophomore Casey Bolen had eight strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. They then won 19-12 over Preble Shawnee. Freshman Vivian Harlemen had five RBI while freshman Chloe Hocker had three RBI.

At the start of this game, Franklin Monroe got the bats going. They put up five runs in the first inning. Senior Jocelyn Gray had the big hit of the inning with a three-run home run. Senior Olivia Sease also went long with a solo shot in the second inning.

Bradford kept pace as best they could scoring a few runs at a time. Hocker drove in a run in the first inning. Senior Alani Canan and Lilly Canan drove in a run in the second inning. Freshman Kendal Weldy drove in a run in the third inning and it was a 6-4 game after three innings.

The Lady Jets then got the bats out once again and had a seven-run fourth inning. Senior Joanie Hall drove in a run to start the scoring. Davis drove in another run right after. Gray and sophomore Alivia Addis each drove in a run. Freshman Faith Wintrow became the third Lady Jets to hit a home run with a two-run shot.

Sease said when the team is playing with great energy against a tough opponent like Bradford, it just takes one hit for the whole lineup to get going.

“It’s nice to play against a team that’s comparable to us. It’s not easy to go out there and get a win. Once we hit one, we just kept going. It was contagious,” Sease said.

Alani Canan scored another run for Bradford while Gray and Sease each drove in a run later in the game to make it a 16-5 game heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Instead of giving up while facing a double-digit deficit, Bradford started to knock the ball around the field.

Senior Tegan Canan and Alani Canan each had a two-run single. Hocker cleared the bases with a double and Bradford ended the sixth inning only down 16-12.

Bradford head coach Shon Schaffer said once the team had settled down after falling behind big, their talent started to shine.

“We are a good hitting team. But as young as we are, emotions dictate talent when you’re a freshman and playing in this environment, league game. It was kind of rough at the beginning. We got the girls to focus in on one thing and we started to come alive,” Schaffer said.

Bradford held Franklin Monroe scoreless and went into the seventh inning with some momentum. With two outs, Alani Canan drove in her fifth run of the game and sent the game-tying run to the plate.

But the Lady Jets didn’t wavier and they got the final out to seal the win. Gray said games like these taught them not to be complacent and remain calm when the other team is making a comeback.

If one person starts to get nervous on the field, it spreads to the whole team and errors start to occur. Gray said if everyone can believe in each other, then they can get those final outs without much trouble.

“It’s definitely nerve-racking. But I think the point of it is that you have to trust who you’re beside or else that’s when you have errors,” Gray said.

Johnson pitched 5.1 innings for Franklin Monroe and had five strikeouts. Bolin, Tegan Canan and Harlemen each had a strikeout with at least two innings pitched.

Hall said they have a team full of hitters, but also a team that is fighting through some mental blocks. In this game, they showed that they can put some runs up. They just need to come into games with the right mindset and full of positive energy.

“It’s all about energy. When the girls are coming into the game with good energy, then it leads out onto the field. That’s how we score all of those runs, just from having fun even before we step onto the field,” Hall said.

Franklin Monroe will play a double header at Fort Loramie on April 20 starting at noon against Shawnee. The Lady Jets will then host Trotwood-Madison on April 22 at 5 p.m and then head to Tri-Village on April 23 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Schaffer said everyone on the team is still learning about and from each other. The players are still showing the coaches what they are capable of each game.

Their tough conference and non-conference schedule doesn’t set themselves up to have a pretty wins and loss record, but will set them up to improve and get better each day.

Schaffer has already seen improvements from his team since day one.

“We got 27 games to get better at the end. We’re better than we were when we played Springfield Shawnee the first game. It’s just a process, a sucky process, of getting thumped on and learning from these games,” Schaffer said.

Bradford will host Benjamin Logan on April 20 at noon and then host New Bremen on April 22 at 5 p.m. They will then play a road WOAC game at Mississianwa Valley on April 23 at 5 p.m.

A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Around the county:

Ansonia (6-4, 2-1)

The Lady Tigers split their two early week games. They lost 5-1 at home to New Bremen on April 15. Senior Maddie Buckingham scored the team’s lone run. Senior Abby Kramer had five strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched and freshman Addison Geyer had six strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. They turned around the next day and won 7-1 at Newton. Senior Kelsey Muhlenkamp had three RBI with two doubles in the game. Kramer pitched all seven innings and had nine strikeouts while allowing three hits. Ansonia will host Madison on April 20 for a double header starting at 11 a.m. They will then be at Marion Local on April 22, at Preble Shawnee on April 23 and at Dixie on April 24 all starting at 5 p.m.

Arcanum (7-7, 4-1)

The Lady Trojans won a pair of WOAC games this week. They won 24-0 at Mississinawa Valley on April 15. Senior Emilie Fout had four RBI and a home run. Freshmen Ella Flatter and Matty Noe each had three RBI. Eight more players drove in at least one run. Senior Hannah Kendig pitched three innings and had five strikeouts. Kendig then pitched the next day and threw a perfect game against National Trail in the team’s 11-0 win. She had nine strikeouts in the game. Junior Kenzie Byrne had three RBI and a home run. Five more players drove in a run. Arcanum will host Springboro on April 20 for a double header starting at 11 a.m. They will then head to Dixie on April 22 and then head to Twin Valley South on April 23 with both games starting at 5 p.m.

Greenville (12-4, 8-1)

The Lady Wave extended their win streak to six games with three wins this week. They started the week with a double header sweep over Xenia on April 15. They won 12-0 in the first game. Seniors Mahayla Cook and Ella McLear each had a home run and two RBI. Six more players drove in at least one run. Junior Morgan Thompson pitched all five innings and allowed four hits and struck out six. The Lady Wave won game two, 14-1. Freshman Rielynn Davidson had three RBI. Senior Addie Burke and junior Maddie Hutchens each had two RBI. Freshman Lizzie Shaffer pitched all five innings and allowed one hit and struck out 11 batters. Greenville then won 10-0 at home over Piqua. Burke had four RBI in the game with junior Zoey Burns driving in three runs herself. Sophomore Kendall Cromwell had a two RBI day. Burns pitched all five innings and allowed two hits with five strikeouts. The team is scheduled to play a double header at Ross on April 20 starting at 1 p.m. against Miami East first before taking on Hamilton Ross. They will then head to West Carrollton on April 22 and head to Butler on April 23 with both games starting at 5 p.m. They will then host West Carrollton on April 24 at 5 p.m.

Mississinawa Valley (4-4, 3-2)

The Lady Blackhawks lost 24-0 to Arcanum to start the week. Four players recorded a hit for Mississinawa Valley. Freshman Ella Godfrey had a strikeout in 3.1 innings pitched. The team then turned around and won 11-3 at Twin Valley South on April 16. Freshman Emma Brock, Godfrey and senior Makenna Guillozet each had two RBI. Godfrey pitched all seven innings and had nine strikeouts while allowing four hits. Mississinawa Valley will be at Tri-County North on April 22 at 5 p.m. and then host Bradford on April 23 at 5 p.m.

Tri-Village (5-1, 3-0)

The Lady Patriots won both games early this week. They won 2-0 over Milton Union on April 15. Both runs were scored in the bottom of the sixth off a double by freshman Mylee Bierly. Sophomore Elizabeth Poling pitched all seven innings and had three strikeouts while allowing four hits. They then won 7-0 over Dixie the next day. Freshman Emma Greer had two RBI while senior Kiersten Wilcox had a home run. Poling had eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. Greer pitched 1.2 innings and had four strikeouts. The Lady Patriots will play Northwestern at 10 a.m. and Riverside after on April 20 at the Newton Cancer Classic. They will then play at Fort Recovery on April 22, host Franklin Monroe on April 23 and then head to Tri-County North on April 24 with all games starting at 5 p.m.

Versailles (6-4, 0-2)

The Lady Tigers lost 6-8 to Minster at home in nine innings. Senior Colleen Hiestand had two RBI and a home run in the game. Senior Cassie Leach had two RBI as well. Seniors Reagan Brown and Kailey Jenkinson each had a RBI. Hiestand pitched all nine innings and had five strikeouts. Versailles will host Tri-County North on April 20 at 11 a.m. for a double header. They will host Covington on April 22 and then head to Coldwater on April 23 with both games starting at 5 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].