Arabians break through with first softball sectional title since 2018
May 29—PENDLETON — Three years of pent-up frustration began to spill out of Pendleton Heights senior catcher Kieli Ryan after pitcher Eliza Findlay ended the fifth inning with a strikeout as the Arabians held a commanding 7-1 lead over Mount Vernon in the softball Sectional 9 championship game.
When Mya Fields fanned to end the inning, Ryan flung the ball well over 20 feet in the air as she pumped her fist and headed back to the dugout.
"It's electric, and it feels really, really good," she said. "It's one of those moments where — to end the inning with a strikeout is my favorite thing. But, especially now against Mount Vernon, we've had some rough (results) against them. It just it felt so good. I just had to throw it up and let them know."
Two innings later, Ryan and the seven PH softball seniors could say they are sectional champions.
Senior Hailee Brunnemer served notice early with a first-inning solo home run, and the Arabians' seniors drove in seven runs total as PH pounded Marauders pitching for 15 hits on its way to a 10-1 win and its first sectional championship since 2018.
"We knew we weren't going home with a loss today," Ryan said. "We knew it would be a fight no matter what the score was. We knew we would have to go out and fight every single pitch."
Although the Arabians had won seven of the last 10 against Mount Vernon, their last two seasons ended in sectional title game losses to the Marauders. Although on their home field, the Arabians were the visitors and batted first, giving Brunnemer the chance — with one out — to send the message this year would be different.
"After I hit first base — oh my gosh, it was just amazing," she said. "I was shocked. I just wanted a base hit, but then it was a home run. The girls meeting me at home plate, that was the best feeling ever."
Mount Vernon countered with a run on three hits to even things up in the bottom of the first but committed a pair of errors in the second to allow PH to take command.
Khloee Gregory reached on a two-base throwing error to start the frame before Bo Shelton beat out an infield single. Gregory scored on an infield by sophomore Katelin Goodwin, and Brynn Libler chased Shelton home with a run-scoring grounder. Brunnemer drove in her second run with much lighter contact, a dribbler down the first-base line for a single, and it was 4-1.
That was all the support Findlay needed. After the first inning, she allowed just three more hits — singles in the third and fourth and a seventh-inning double — and struck out seven batters with an effective use of her off-speed pitches.
"I thought she kept them off balance, inside and outside, everything was good," PH coach Rob Davis said. "She had seven strikeouts. That was a great job."
The fourth-inning single was quickly erased when Ryan picked the runner off the bag.
But more offensive support was coming from the PH lineup which saw all nine starters collect at least one hit.
Libler led off the fourth with a solo home run for a 5-1 lead before Gregory (walk) and Shelton (single) reached to open the fifth. After a Goodwin groundout, Libler drove in her third run with a single to right field. A second run scored in the inning on an error, and it was 7-1.
PH flexed its muscle in the sixth. One out after a lead-off single by Caroline DeRolf, Gregory hammered her team-leading ninth home run of the year for a 9-1 lead, and one out later Goodwin added a solo blast to left for the final margin.
Davis was especially happy for the seniors — Brunnemer, Ryan, Gregory, DeRolf, Libler, Kenzie Green and Avery Mollenkopf — who lost to Mount Vernon 2-1 in 2019, saw a promising season canceled in 2020 and lost to the Marauders in 2021 after defeating them during the regular season.
"For the kids, these girls have been through a lot and worked their butt off," he said. "We've had some disappointments and a year that wasn't. For us to finally get everything working our way, it's a great feeling. This is what we start working in January for."
Brunnemer — whose eighth home run of the season sparked the effort — had some extra incentive after also falling to Mount Vernon in the basketball sectional final earlier this year.
"I had such a hard time at basketball, not winning that one," she said. "This one meant so much. This was my last sectional, and especially with this group, it's just so awesome."
Pendleton Heights (24-6) will travel to North Central (16-11) in Tuesday's regional championship game. The season ends for the young Marauders. They have no seniors on this year's roster and finished 13-9.
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.