Article Presented By Pickaway Ross CTC…
The (21-9) Logan Elm Lady Braves fell to the (22-5) Bryan Golden Bears 2-1 in the Division 2 Softball State Semis at Akron’s Firestone Stadium Friday.
The first four innings amounted to a scoreless pitching duel between Bryan’s Thea Staten and Logan Elm’s Sadie Binkley with all the scoring coming in the final three innings.
Bryan got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Amiah Langham drew a two-out walk, followed by an RBI triple by Ella Voigt for the 1-0 lead.
Logan Elm got their offense going in the top of the sixth inning with Lynsay VanHoose reaching on a throwing error then advanced to second. Sadie Binkley followed with a single to left field. A Ryleigh Wolfe sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third with one out. Logan Elm tied the game 1-1 on a safety squeeze by Jacie Clifton. Caplinger walked with two outs to put runners at the corners, but Peyton Richendollar lined out to end inning.
But, Bryan came right back to grab the 2-1 advantage with a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, using “small ball” to get the job done. Kylee Thiel started off the inning with a walk, stole second and went to third base on a wild pitch. An infield single by Josie Arnold put runners at the corners with one out. Another bunt back to the mound by Milee Vollmar went for a single with all hands safe. A bases loaded bunt single by Tabitha Taylor scored the go-ahead run for Bryan at 2-1, but the next batter was retired, leaving the bases loaded.
And that was wall the runs Bryan would need, as the Braves were retired in order in the top of the seventh inning to end the game with Bryan beating Logan Elm 2-1.
Bryan pitcher Thea Staten got the win, yielding only 2 hits and striking out 11 Logan Elm batters. Sophomore Sadie Binkley pitched well, but suffered the loss, yielding only 6 hits for the contest.
Bryan had 2 runs on 6 hits, 1 error, stranding 8 runners. Logan Elm had 1 run, 2 hits, committed 2 errors and left 5 runners on base.
