Marysville’s Emily Daniel slides safely into second base Wednesday evening as a Bishop Watterson infielder stretches for an incoming throw. The Lady Monarchs fell to the Eagles, 9-6, in the Division I district semifinals at Olentangy High School.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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MHS’ Leah Potter watches the flight of her three-run homer Wednesday against Watterson. The Lady Monarchs fell, 9-6, in the Division I district semifinals at Olentangy High School.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Marysville High School’s softball team put up some respectable numbers during Wednesday’s Division I district semifinal game.
A line score that read six runs, 11 hits and only a couple of fielding miscues should be enough to win most contests.
It was another number, however, that proved to be the difference in the fifth-seeded Lady Monarchs’ 9-6 upset loss to No. 15 Columbus Bishop Watterson.
The number nine represented how many runners MHS (which finished at 20-7) left on base.
The bottom half of the seventh inning put a frustrating cap to the game that was played at Olentangy High School.
Marysville went into its half of the frame down by a trio of runs.
Things got mighty interesting, however, when the Lady Monarchs loaded the bases with no outs.
Watterson pitcher Moira O’Reilly yielded a bad-hop single to Abby Gindlesberger, walked Leah Potter and allowed a sharp single by Izzy Shroyer to juice the sacks.
A couple of clutch base hits may have been all the Lady Monarchs needed to complete a rally and advance to Friday evening’s district championship game against Gahanna-Lincoln.
Instead, O’Reilly put her eighth and ninth strikeouts in the books.
She then coaxed a pop out to end Marysville’s season.
“We had our chances during the game,” said MHS head coach Jennifer Segner-Maxwell. “We’ve relied on our hitting all season, but it wasn’t there tonight when we needed it.
“We didn’t hit when we had runners in scoring position.”
The Lady Monarchs’ pitching also struggled for much of the day.
Junior southpaw Izzy Shroyer got the starting nod to combat O’Reilly, who is also a lefty.
Shroyer was coming off a shoulder problem and at times had trouble finding the strike zone.
“Izzy said she was ready, but we had both her and Abby (Gindlesberger) set to go,” said Segner-Maxwell. “Izzy got the start because she’s the more experienced pitcher.”
The Eagles (11-8) tagged Shroyer for four runs and a like number of hits during her two-inning stint.
She struck out one and issued a pair of free passes.
“Izzy had trouble getting behind in the count,” said Segner-Maxwell.
Grace Jenkins led off the visitors’ portion of the opening inning by beating out a bunt single.
She went to second on a fielder’s choice and swiped third.
Gracie Bressoud singled in Jenkins and later stole second.
Bressoud then scored on a two-out base hit from Maddie McCleary.
The Lady Monarchs cut their deficit in half with a run during their initial time at the plate.
Emily Daniel singled and stole second.
O’Reilly put two punchouts in the book before Gindlesberger blooped a single over second base that allowed the speedy Daniel to race home.
The Eagles pushed out to a 4-1 margin in the second.
Shroyer walked the first two batters, which prompted a visit by her head coach.
A foul ball out was followed by Anna Emsailer’s double that gave Watterson a 3-1 lead.
The fourth run came home on a fielder’s choice out.
The resilient Lady Monarchs, however, continued to battle by plating two runs in the second.
With one down, Tayler Clabaugh walked.
With two outs, Daniel reached safely on an error.
Base hits by Hanna Moffett and Ashley Dunn drove in runs that pulled Marysville to within 4-3.
Gindlesberger went in to pitch in the third and kept the Eagles off the board for the next two innings.
The wheels, though, started to come off in the top of the fifth when Watterson pushed out to an 8-3 lead.
Sydney Blake and Bressoud ripped back-to-back singles.
Funge drove in Blake with a base hit.
Breesoud then trotted home when Funge was thrown out trying to stretch her single into a double.
McCleary later singled and Amelia Pope cracked a two-run homer over the centerfield fence for the five-run margin.
The Lady Monarchs continued the fight with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Dunn led off with a single and moved to third on Gindlesberger’s double.
At that point, Potter strode to the plate.
She turned on O’Reilly’s second pitch of the at-bat and deposited the ball over the fence to narrow MHS’ deficit to 8-6.
With one down, pinch-hitter Genesis Brooks was hit by a pitch, but O’Reilly notched a strikeout and induced a popup to end the inning.
The Eagles scored an insurance run on a Monarch error in the top of the sixth.
With two out, Blake doubled.
A miscommunication during a throw in the infield resulted in an errant toss down the third base line.
That allowed Blake to race all the way from second with the run that gave Watterson its 9-6 advantage.
MHS went down without much in the way of offensive fireworks in the bottom of the sixth and the Eagles did the same to start the seventh.
Things began looking up for Monarch Nation in the bottom of the seventh when O’Reilly loaded the bases.
Her final two K’s and the popup to the infield, though, put a disappointing end to the Lady Monarchs’ season.
BW 220 041 0-9 11 2
MHS 120 030 0-6 11 2
WP: O’Reilly
LP: Shroyer
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