By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

A little over a year ago, the Goshen Lady Warriors dropped a 3-2, eight-inning decision to McNicholas High School in the first round of the sectional tournament.

Flash forward roughly 365 days, and those same two teams were facing off on the diamond yet again. This time, however, the result was different.

Goshen scored a key seventh-inning run and held McNick scoreless in the bottom of the inning, securing a 3-2 win on the road on Saturday, May 11. Head coach Eric Campbell said the team really didn’t want to enter the bottom of the seventh tied again.

“We didn’t want to find ourselves in the same situation, where it was a tie ballgame in the bottom of the seventh inning like it was last year,” Campbell said. “It was a heartbreaking game for my kids. This year’s senior class remembers that. It was an early exit for us last year, and we thought we had a good team going in. This was a great rebound for us.”

Goshen took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Cheyenne West singled, and one out later scored on a triple by Alexis Sweeney.

The Lady Warriors added another run in the third. Anna Bauer led off the inning with a single. She then moved to second on a groundout and scored on a double by Sarah Slate.

McNick answered in the bottom of the frame. Haven Dwyer homered to center, and Emma Melcher followed with a single. She then scored on a triple into right field by Madisen Imbus.

Neither team scored again until the seventh, though the Lady Rockets certainly had chances to. McNick had runners reach second base in each of the final three innings, but none of them scored.

“We made plays when we had to,” Campbell said. “They had some hits, but we made some errors too.”

Goshen’s run in the seventh inning came with two outs. West had a hit taken away to start the inning on a diving snag by Abby Bryll.

One out later, Sweeney hit a bouncer to second that hopped over Bryll’s glove and into right field for a base hit. Madison Hatfield then walked, bringing Emma Riddle to the plate.

Riddle punched a ball into right field, over the leaping Bryll. Campbell praised her for her ability to come through in the clutch.

“It was a great opportunity for her to prove something, and she came through,” Campbell said. “She always believes in herself, that’s never been an issue. We had the opportunity to put her in the lineup today, and she made the most of it. I’m very happy for her, she works extremely hard.”

McNick didn’t go down quietly. Melcher hit a two-out double off the fence in left field, but Imbus grounded out to first to end the game.

Offensively, Hatfield led Goshen with three hits, an RBI and a walk. Slate and Riddle had two hits each, with Bauer and West each recording one base hit.

Bauer pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on six hits. She walked two and struck out five.

“She pitched a great game,” Campbell said. “Slate called the game, and they put it together. Every inning, they were talking about what each hitter was doing. They did a great job.”

With the win, Goshen advanced to the district semifinal against No. 2 Taylor, which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, May 14 at Sycamore High School. Should the Lady Warriors win that game, they would face either No. 9 Franklin or No. 1 Greenville at Lakota East High School on Saturday, May 18 at 11 a.m.