New Richmond’s Isabelle “Rae” Hartigan makes contact with a pitch thrown by Goshen starting pitcher Skye Shaw in the bottom of the first inning of a Division III Southwest 1 District semifinal game May 20, 2025, at New Richmond High School. Hartigan’s hit was a go-ahead two-run home run. Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling

New Richmond’s Isabelle “Rae” Hartigan makes contact with a pitch thrown by Goshen starting pitcher Skye Shaw in the bottom of the first inning of a Division III Southwest 1 District semifinal game May 20, 2025, at New Richmond High School. Hartigan’s hit was a go-ahead two-run home run.

Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling

<p>Goshen third baseman Margaret Shoemaker, right, winds up to throw the ball to home plate to throw out New Richmond’s Piper Willis during a Division III Southwest 1 District semifinal game May 20, 2025, at New Richmond High School.</p> <p>Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling</p>

Goshen third baseman Margaret Shoemaker, right, winds up to throw the ball to home plate to throw out New Richmond’s Piper Willis during a Division III Southwest 1 District semifinal game May 20, 2025, at New Richmond High School.

Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling
<p>Williamsburg starting pitcher Alyssa Vearil winds up to deliver the ball to home plate during a Division V Southwest 3 District championship game May 22, 2025, against Miami East at Miamisburg High School.</p> <p>Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling</p>

Williamsburg starting pitcher Alyssa Vearil winds up to deliver the ball to home plate during a Division V Southwest 3 District championship game May 22, 2025, against Miami East at Miamisburg High School.

Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling

NEW RICHMOND — New Richmond is returning to the regional tournament.

Defense impacted the first two meetings between New Richmond and Goshen.

It made a difference in their third meeting.

Five unearned runs on three Goshen errors helped propel the Lady Lions to a 7-2 win in a Division III Southwest 1 District semifinal. The May 20 win completed a three-game sweep of Goshen, which ended its season at 12-7.

“Defense is absolutely one of the most important things,” New Richmond coach Trish Payne said, “obviously, you want good offense, too, but defense is big and it sets the tone for the game, too. When you start off making errors, you can get into your own head and it can spiral from there.”

On May 23, the Lady Lions’ offense hammered 16 hits, four from Madison Steelman, in their 8-3 victory over Butler in the district championship game in Xenia. The victory propels New Richmond to its first regional tournament appearance since 2021, when that team was a regional runner-up to Hebron Lakewood.

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