Logan Elm Softball Downs Dover For Trip to State Final Four

Article Presented By Pickaway Ross CTC…

For the first time since 2012, a Logan Elm High School Softball team is state tournament bound. The Lady Braves earned their trip to Final Four with a convincing 7-3 win over (26-4) Dover Friday at Pickerington Central High School for the Division Regional Championship.

Logan Elm will face Bryan at 12:30pm Friday, May 31st at Akron’s Firestone Stadium in the Division 2 State Semifinal. Springfield Kenton Ridge and Canfield will meet in the 10am semifinal contest with the two winners playing at 3:30pm Saturday in the state title game.

(21-8) Logan Elm erupted for three runs in the bottom of the first inning for a 3-0 lead then added one run in the second and three in the fourth inning for a 7-0 advantage.

Dover came to life late in the game with a run in the sixth and two in the seventh inning on a two-run blast by Jenna Molk before LE’s sophomore pitcher Sadie Binkley slammed the door for a complete game five-hitter, where she also struck out seven Crimson Tornadoes batters.

Braves players that shined offensively included Lynsay Vanhoose, who reached base three times, scoring each time. She walked, singled and reached on an error. Binkley had two hits, scoring twice while Jacie Clifton had two hits- including a three-run homer that blew the game open. For the night, Clifton drove in 4 of the Braves 7 runs.

Dover had one player on their squad that was missing her graduation ceremony for the game and was presented her diploma during the pregame. Logan Elm has several senior players on their roster and were rushing to get back to Pickaway County after the contest in time to participate in their commencement.

The Mid State League Buckeye had an impressive tournament run this Spring, which according to Logan Elm Coach Jamey Binkley played a role in the Lady Braves success. MSL Champ Teays Valley advanced in D-1 to the Regional Semi, where they lost to eventual Regional Runner-Up Lancaster. Liberty Union beat Miami East 9-7 for the Division 3 Regional Championship, and Circleville was D-2 District Runner-Up to Unioto.

Here’s the final out of the game:

Litter Media’s Mike Smith spoke with Logan Elm Coach Jamey Binkley after the championship win: