By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the high school softball games from April 25.

Tri-Village 8 (12-1, 7-0) vs Bradford 2 (5-12, 3-5)

BRADFORD — The Lady Patriots came away with their 11th straight win with a road conference win over Bradford. Tri-Village came out and scored at least one run in each of the first four innings.

Tri-Village head coach Emily Osborne said she was happy to see the team come out early and string together runs.

“It’s nice to be able to see some consistency out of the team to put up some runs in multiple innings in a row instead of waiting until the fourth inning or later that we’ve seen out of this team. It was nice to be able to do that and continue to build on it,” Osborne said.

Sophomore Camryn Osborne hit a RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0. Freshman Brandon hit a RBI double in the second inning to put the Lady Patriots up 2-0. Sophomore Tai Mize and freshman Emma Greer each drove in a run to leave the second inning up 4-0.

An error in the third inning gave Tri-Village a run. In the fourth inning, Greer tripled in a run followed by a sacrifice groundout by senior Kiersten Wilcox to go up 7-0.

Up to that point, Bradford was making solid contact. The ball couldn’t find the open space. Bradford head coach Shon Schaffer said they are a good hitting team and he was happy with how the team was able to have good at bats.

“We put some runs on the board. Probably should have a couple more. We just kept hitting right to them. We made good contact today. It was just a lot of our hits were right to fielders,” Schaffer said.

The Lady Railroaders were able to get a one, two, three inning in the top of the fifth. Then the team started to find the gaps on offense.

Freshman Lilly Canan hit a RBI double to drive in Bradford’s first inning. Senior Tegan Canan drove in the second run on a RBI single.

In the top of the sixth inning, Tri-Village went down in order. Bradford had some momentum late.

The Lady Patriots stumbled a bit when Greer came in to pitch. Osborne said for some reason, the team is still learning how to play behind her.

Tri-Village was able to limit the damage and didn’t allow another run in the sixth and seventh inning. Tri-Village scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch.

Bradford put the ball in play the last two innings. Like it was all game, they couldn’t find open space.

Greer and sophomore Elizabeth Poling each had three strikeouts on the mound. For Bradford, freshman Vivian Harlemen had two strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Tegan Canan had a strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched.

Schaffer said with the team playing a lot of the games the last few weeks, they have improved. The young team is growing up.

“We’ve improved the past two weeks just playing. I keep telling them, baby steps and baby steps. In the huddle they just said, ‘Are we toddlers yet?’ I said, ‘Yep, I think we are toddlers. You guys are wobbling.’ They’re getting better,” Schaffer said.

The win helps Tri-Village stay ahead in the WOAC title race and give them a favorable seed in the upcoming tournament. Osborne said the team is focused on improving each day and getting ready for the task ahead.

“We’re just trying to get better every game. Continue to fight and make adjustments,” Osborne said.

Bradford will be at St. Henry on April 29, at Dixie on April 30 and at Covington on May 1. All three games will start at 5 p.m.

Tri-Village will host Twin Valley South on April 30 at 5 p.m.

Around the county:

Ansonia 1 (13-5, 5-1) vs Versailles 10 (12-5, 0-3)

In the battle of the Lady Tigers, Versailles comes out on top with a seven-run second inning that propelled them to a win. Senior Jenna Dirksen had two RBI and a home run. Senior Cassie Leach had three hits. Senior Colleen Hiestand had nine strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Senior Maddie Buckingham drove in Ansonia’s lone run. Senior Abby Kramer had two strikeouts in four innings pitched. Versailles will be at New Bremen on April 29 and then host Marion Local on April 30 at 5 p.m. Ansonia will be at Riverside on April 29 and then host Franklin Monroe on April 30 and host St. Henry on May 1. All games are at 5 p.m.

Arcanum 11 (12-7, 8-1) vs Franklin Monroe 0 (6-16, 4-5)

The Lady Trojans get the win in this rivalry matchup. They scored eight runs in the fourth inning to get to the double-digit lead. Sophomore Grace Fry, freshman Matty Noe, freshman Jordyn Garbig and senior Emilie Fout each had two RBI. Senior Hannah Kendig had six strikeouts in five innings pitched while allowing three hits. For Franklin Monroe, senior Keihl Johnson had a strikeout in five innings pitched. Arcanum will be at Russia on April 29 and then host Tri-County North on April 30 with both games starting at 5 p.m. Franklin Monroe will be at Marion Local on April 29 and at Ansonia on April 30 for 5 p.m. first pitches. They will then host National Trail on May 1 at 5 p.m.

Mississinawa Valley (4-9, 3-7)

The Lady Blackhawks lost 15-1 to Dixie. Sophomore Cora Hoggatt drove in the team’s lone run and had two hits. Senior MacKenzea Townsend pitched all six innings and had four strikeouts. Senior Makenna Guillozet also had two hits. The Lady Blackhawks will host Randolph Southern on April 29 and then host Preble Shawnee on April 30 with each game starting at 5 p.m.

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