By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the high school softball games from May 3 – 5.

Tri-Village 9 (18-1, 10-0) vs Ansonia 7 (17-6, 8-2)

ANSONIA — For the first time since 2008, the Lady Patriots clinched their share of the WOAC title with the road win over Ansonia. Tri-Village head coach Emily Osborne said she was proud of her team for coming out strong and finishing the job.

“That was a tough game. If you missed it, you’re losing out. We knew coming into this, this was going to be a tough game. They’re a good team from top to bottom and especially on the mound. I’m proud of the girls for coming out and hitting the ball well,” Osborne said.

Ansonia head coach David Fisherback said Tri-Village earned this win and punished his team for the mistakes they made early.

“They hit the ball that first inning. We might have had an error in there. In the second inning, they scored and we had a dropped ball at first base. In these types of games, you cannot give free outs,” Fisherback said.

The Lady Patriots scored five runs in the first inning. Freshman Emma Greer hit a RBI double to start things off. Freshman Mylee Bierly had the big hit of the inning with a two-run triple.

Ansonia drove in two runs in the bottom of the first. Freshman Addison Geyer and senior Kelsey Muhlenkamp each drove in a run.

Tri-Village drove in three more runs in the second inning. Greer had another RBI double. Sophomore Areronna Baker and senior Macy Howell each drove in a run as well.

Osborne said she was happy to see her team battle at the plate against one of the better pitchers in the WOAC in senior Abby Kramer. Kramer is second in the conference in strikeouts and the Lady Patriots did not strikeout at the plate.

Ansonia started to creep back into the game after the second inning. Geyer and Kramer each had a RBI in the third inning. With two outs in the fourth inning, senior Maddie Buckingham drove in two runs on a double. Sophomore Ava Thatcher had a RBI single.

After four innings, it was an 8-7 game. Fisherback said his team could keep up with the Tri-Village offense.

“Very proud of our kids. Most of our runs, we scored with two outs. They’re (Tri-Village) a very good hitting team, but I’m looking at the stats and I said, ‘Guys, you got to believe. In the stats that’s in the system, we got just as good as hitters as they do,’ We moved the ball around and scored with two outs,” Fisherback said.

Tri-Village drove in an insurance run in the fifth inning with a RBI double by freshman Kaley Brandon.

Ansonia had their chances to take the lead. They were able to get base runners on and put some pressure on Tri-Village. Osborne said once the team got used to the wet field conditions, the hard work they put into their defense started to shine.

“Momentum has been something we’ve been working on all year long. We had it at the beginning and we wanted to keep it on our side. I felt like we kind of slipped a little bit. Had to go to the mound and give them a pep talk. After that, we were able to bring it back around and get out of it,” Osborne said.

Even after giving up a lead base runner in the sixth inning, Tri-Village was able to turn a double play on the next batter. Fisherback said it was those types of plays Tri-Village made that was the difference in the game.

Sophomore Elizabeth Poling pitched the whole game for Tri-Village and finished with three strikeouts.

Ansonia is the two seed in the Division IV Southwest softball tournament. If they get past National Trail, they will host Jackson Center on May 9 at 5 p.m. Fisherback said the team generated some excitement from playing in this big game and hopes they bring that excitement to the postseason.

Tri-Village is the number one seed in the Division IV Southwest softball tournament. They will host the winner of Twin Valley South and Yellow Springs on May 9 at 5 p.m.

Osborne said the team is close to breaking some school records. They are a few games away from breaking the single season wins record, which is set at 21.

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

Arcanum (19-7, 10-1)

COVINGTON — At the Covington Classic, Arcanum swept both games of a double header on May 4. Junior Kenzie Byrne broke another school record during the day. After breaking her own home run in a season record against Marion Local on May 3 with her 11th home run of the season, she broke the single season runs record recording her 49th run of the season against Xenia in the second game of the double header.

Head coach Mike Morris said she is close to breaking the RBI record as well.

The Lady Trojans started the day with a 16-0 win over Preble Shawnee. Morris said they were originally scheduled to play Fairborn, but Fairborn was confused on what the time schedule was. They ended up playing a rematch against the Lady Arrows.

“Preble Shawnee was sticking around and we decided to play them. Hopefully, we helped them out getting ready for the tournament and got us some hitting in and another win,” Morris said.

The bats started off slow against Preble Shawnee. Morris said the Lady Arrows made some plays and took away some hits from them early.

After scoring one run in the second inning, Arcanum took control of the game with a seven-run third inning. They put up five more runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Senior Emilie Fout and freshman Cam Garbig each had three RBI. Garbig pitched two innings and had a strikeout. Senior Belle Harleman pitched three innings and allowed one hit and had two strikeouts.

The bats stayed hot as Arcanum won 21-0 over Xenia. Arcanum scored eight runs in the first inning.

Senior Hannah Kendig had four RBI and three hits in the game. She also pitched all five innings and struck out nine while allowing one hit.

Freshman Ella Flatter, sophomore Grace Fry and senior Ashlyn Miller each had three RBI.

Morris said the team played great overall. The hitting, the pitching and the defense all worked together on the day. Everything is looking good for the upcoming postseason.

“Defensively, we were sound. Pitching was sound again. Everything is looking good for next week,” Morris said.

Arcanum will host the winner of Northeastern and Anna for their first playoff game on May 8. The game is set for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

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

Around the county:

Bradford (7-14, 4-6)

Bradford lost 14-4 at Kettering Fairmont on May 4. Senior Alani Canan and sophomore Casey Bolen each had two RBI. Bolen had five strikeouts in three innings pitched. Freshman Vivian Harlemen had a strikeout in two innings pitched. If Bradford upsets Covington in their first round matchup, they would head to Houston on May 9 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Greenville (23-4, 17-1)

The Lady Wave took a 9-0 lead over Sidney before the game was suspended due to rain. As things stand, it currently counts as a win for Greenville. Junior Zoey Burns had two RBI in the game. If the Lady Wave get past Trotwood, they will host Oakwood on May 9 for their second playoff game at 5 p.m.

Versailles (15-7, 3-4)

The Lady Tigers lost 10-9 at Parkway on a walk-off in extra innings. Senior Jenna Dirksen had five RBI and a home run in the game. Sophomores Brooke Bergman and Sara Dirksen each had two RBI. Versailles will host the winner of Milton Union and Graham on May 8 for their first playoff game at 5 p.m.

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