Kody Becker and the Clermont Northeastern baseball team defeated Purcell Marian 1-0 in the first round of tournament play. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
Postseason play continued in softball and began with earnest on the baseball diamond over the last week.
Softball
Division I
Both Clermont County softball teams saw their postseason runs end last week.
No. 3 Milford couldn’t hold an early lead and fell to No. 15 Seton 7-6 on May 11.
The Lady Eagles led 5-0. Seton got a run in the third and three in the fifth. Milford added another run in the fifth but Seton plated three over the final two innings to end the Lady Eagles’ season.
Avery Fielman tallied a hit and three runs batted in. Mollie Bloom finished with two hits, a run and an RBI. Taylor Stemmerding had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Lady Eagles.
That same night, No. 14 West Clermont dropped a 15-0 decision to No. 4 Mason.
The Lady Wolves managed just two hits. Jenna Begue and Bekah Giel each tallied singles. Campbell Beatty and Ava Jones had a walk each.
West Clermont made seven errors in the contest. Six of the 15 runs were unearned.
Division II
Clinton-Massie took out a pair of Clermont County softball teams last week.
New Richmond’s tournament run came to an early end with a 3-2 loss to the visiting Falcons. The Lady Lions scored two in the first inning but couldn’t crack the scoring column after that and only managed five hits.
Joli Boggs got the start, yielding five hits and three earned runs. Izzie Carroll and Daegan Flamm threw three combined innings with two hits, a walk and two strikeouts.
Offensively, Ashley Lykins had three of New Richmond’s hits. She drove in a run. Piper Willis had two RBIs, a run scored and a hit. Joli Boggs had New Richmond’s other hit.
That win sent Clinton-Massie to the sectional finals against Goshen where they defeated the Lady Warriors 11-1.
They will face Batavia in the district semifinals. The Lady Bulldogs defeated Roger Bacon 8-0 on Thursday, May 12 to clinch a spot in the game.
Mikayla Rash threw a complete game and allowed just three hits and two walks. She struck out 13.
Olivia Patel finished with three hits, two runs and two runs batted in.
Rash tallied two hits, a run scored and four runs batted in.
Emma Hopper doubled, drove in a run and scored a run. Taylor Bowling finished with two hits and an RBI.
Division III
Clermont Northeastern will represent the county in the Division III district finals after picking up a key extra-innings win over Bethel-Tate.
The Lady Rockets won the game 3-2 in extra innings to advance to the district finals for the first time since 2016.
They did so by taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Maddie Gilley doubled and moved to third on a flyout. She scored on an error to put CNE ahead 1-0.
Tiffany Drewry reached on that error. She scored on a single by Bella Bosley for a 2-0 lead.
Bethel-Tate tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Emily Moorehead reached on an error and scored one batter later on a home run by Jenna McMullen.
The game stayed tied until the top of the ninth. Sidnee Norton drew a walk and moved to second on a two-out walk by Gilley.
Maci Brown then singled and scored what would be the game-winning run.
Lilly Braden led CNE with three hits. Brown and Gilley had two each. Bosley and Adkins totaled one hit apiece.
Drewry threw a complete game for CNE allowing two runs (one earned) with five walks. She gave up four hits and struck out three.
Four of those five walks were issued to Haley Johnson. All were intentional, leaving Johnson one shy of tying the state record for intentional walks in a game with five.
Sizemore tallied two hits. McMullen had a hit, two RBI and a run.
CNE now faces Miami East at Lebanon High School on Thursday, May 19 at 5 p.m.
Williamsburg dropped another district semifinal, falling to Blanchester 5-0. Clermont County’s Lady Wildcats had defeated Blanchester twice this season and hadn’t lost to their counterparts from Clinton County since May 8, 2013.
Blanchester’s Madison Creager homered twice in the game. Pitcher Rianna Mueller limited Williamsburg just five hits in the game.
Division IV
Felicity’s postseason push began with a win over Ripley on Thursday, May 12.
The Lady Cardinals recorded eight hits in the contest and held Ripley to two.
Bailee Caudill tossed a complete game, yielding two unearned runs on two hits. She struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Skylar Brandenburg had a hit and drove in two runners. Caudill tallied two hits as did Chloe Quatkemeyer.
Baseball
Division III
Clermont Northeastern picked up a tournament-opening win on the arm of Kris Jenkins.
Jenkins held the visitors from Purcell Marian to just one hit and two walks in the Rockets’ 1-0 win. He struck out 16 in the game.
Kody Becker, Jenkins, Parker Woolery, Austin Yeager and Connor Yeager had one hit each for the Rockets. Austin Yeager recorded an RBI. Jenkins scored the team’s lone run.
Girls Lacrosse
Milford’s girls lacrosse team made history on Monday, May 16. The Lady Eagles took down Mount Notre Dame 11-6 for the first postseason win in program history.
Emma Schaefer tallied 17 saves in goal for the Lady Eagles.