Roundup: Hall tallies 14 Ks, Sheridan softball returns to district finals
ATHENS — Cora Hall came up clutch again for Sheridan on Monday.
The freshman pitcher struck out 14 and had a pair of hits at the plate, as the second-seeded Generals topped Circleville 4-3 in the Division II district semifinal at Ohio University.
Sheridan (20-7) trailed 1-0 after an inning, but tied it at 1 in the second and scored three times in the fifth as Cate Conrad doubled home a run, and Avery Mueller singled in a run and scored when Hall singled to center field.
The Tigers' Gabby McConnell doubled home two runs with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, but Hall got a strikeout to end the inning, then stranded the tying run on base in the seventh to end the game.
Sheridan advanced to play No. 3 seed Athens (18-7), a 14-3 winner against Gallipolis Gallia Academy, in a rematch of last year's district final. The teams split a doubleheader in the regular season.
This game will be played at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Ohio University, with a spot in the Pickerington regional on the line.
Steubenville 3, Tri-Valley 1: The third-seeded Scotties were knocked off by the 10th seeded Big Red in the Division II district semifinal.
Tri-Valley scored in the opening inning. Keyona Murphy was hit by a pitch and Falon Wolford followed with a single. After a sac bunt moved the runners up, Keyona Murphy scored on Paiton Murphy's suicide squeeze for a 1-0 lead.
The Scotties were held in check from there, while the Big Red scored two runs in the third on a fielder's choice and an error. They added an insurance run in the sixth after a weather delay.
McKenzie Hartrum had two singles for Tri-Valley, which saw its seven-game winning streak end.
Baseball
Division II
New Lex 10, Miami Trace 3: Isaac McGill and Hunter Kellogg combined on a two-hitter for the visiting Panthers (9-14), who pulled away in the late innings to advance in the Southeast District sectional tournament.
McGill threw 70 strikes among his 115 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, piling up 12 strikeouts in the process. He also had a team-high three hits at the plate, as the Panthers had 11 as a team and also took advantage of four Panther errors.
Tatem Toth hit a solo homer in the top of the third to give New Lex a 1-0 lead. After McGill and Kellogg singled and Joe Stenson walked to load the bases, Mason Pyle answered with a two-run single to make it 3-0.
Miami Trace got two in the bottom of the inning, but New Lex mounted a two-out rally in the fourth, scoring twice as Kellogg singled in Garrett Blosser and Toth went home on a passed ball.
McGill added an RBI single in the sixth to make it 7-3, and two more came around on an infield error in the seventh to make it 10-3.
New Lex advanced to play at No. 5 seed Washington Court House at 5 p.m. on Wednesday for a berth in the district. The Blue Lions edged Greenfield McClain, 7-5, in their sectional opener.
Sheridan 11, Marietta 1 (5 inn.): Sam Taylor tossed a four-hitter and Austin Clifton had four hits, including a pair of doubles, in a sectional win for the host Generals (22-4).
Sheridan welcomes 10th seed Vincent Warren in a sectional final at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The game is a rematch of last year's sectional final.
Caden Sheridan scored on an error in the bottom of the first for the Generals, but the Tigers tied the game at 1 with a RBI groundout in the second.
Sheridan doubled home Blaine Hannan for the go-ahead run in the third, while Hannan's RBI single and Coyle Withrow's two-run double in the fourth pushed the lead to 5-1.
Withrow and Sheridan each finished with a double, a single and two RBIs, Corey Amspaugh, Hannan and Reid Packer had two singles each and AJ Winders doubled to highlight the 17-hit attack for the winners.
Division III
Crooksville 3, Ironton 2: Brady Cottrill singled home Austin Love for the go-ahead run with two outs in the fifth inning, as the 24th-seeded Ceramics (5-14) advanced with an upset win.
They travel to eighth seed Ironton Rock Hill at 5 p.m. Thursday for a sectional title.
Noah Dickerson's suicide squeeze in the third plated Love and Ethan Sprankle, who were both running on the play, for a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers (10-13-1), the No. 9 seed, answered with two in the fourth, as Nate Bias lined a double to score Brady Moatz and Peyton Aldridge followed with a base hit as Bias came home to tie the game.
Love started and went five innings for the win. He gave up two earned runs, four hits, struck out just one and walked one, while Dickerson got the save, working two scoreless innings and giving up one hit, striking out one and not issuing a walk.
Love and Cottrell also had all four of the Ceramics' hits. The Tigers fell to 2-7 in one-run games.
Harrison Central 6, West Muskingum 4: The Tornadoes' late rally fell short in sectional play.
The Huskies scored first with a run in the second, but West M tied it in the third when Hunter Porter doubled and Wes Houston singled him home.
But, Harrison Central put up a four-spot in the bottom of the third to take control and added a run in the fifth to make it 6-1.
The first two batters reached in the West M seventh, but the next two were retired. A Huskie error allowed one run to come home on the next batter then Houston doubled home a pair of runs, but a groundout ended the game.
Houston, who took the loss, and Porter held the Huskies to only four hits. Houston gave up six runs, four earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Camden Fowler and Dylan Padgett also had hits for the Tornadoes.
Regular Season
Tri-Valley 11, John Glenn 2: The Scotties scored 11 runs in the first two innings to cap Muskingum Valley League play with a win.
Hansel Holmes went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Tri-Valley offense, Ty Smith had a single and knocked in three runs and Jake Kinder, Bennet Baker and Ashton Sensibaugh added a double and a RBI each.
Baker also earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings.
Colt Emerson hit a double and a single, Noah Wellmeier singled with a RBI and Aydan Thompson added a single to account for the Muskies' offense. Bexlee Woodard only retired one batter during the Scotties' 7-run first in taking the loss.
Boys Tennis
Zanesville netters earn wins at sectional: Two singles players and a double teams picked up victories in the Division I sectional tournament last week at Pickerington Central
Tyson Omen won his first round match 6-4, 6-4 over Brady Lehman of Grove City but lost his next match to No. 1 seeded Neil Reddy from Hilliard Bradley 6-0, 6-0, while fellow singles player Lucas Watson reached the quarterfinals by downing Owen Kennedy of Teas Valley 6-2, 6-4 and defeating Thomas Davis of Hilliard Darby 6-2, 6-3. He fell to Eric Tang of Olentangy Orange by a score 6-2, 6-0 in the quarters, coming up one win shy of reaching the district tournament.
The Blue Devils' No.1 doubles team of Evan Dinan and Samuel Lightle downed the team of Burget and Sherman of Teays Valley in 6-1, 6-3 and won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 over Pendell and Remley of Chillicothe. They then lost in the quarterfinals to the fpurth seeded team of Clay Hess and Junu Kim of Hilliard Davidson 6-1, 6-3.
Jeremiah Penrose also competed in singles, losing his opening match by a hard-fought score of 7-5, 7-5 to Chillicothe's Kaiden Koch, while the second doubles of Joshua Lightle and Sky Cooke lost in the first round, 6-4, 6-2 to Penn and Phillips of Chillicothe.
Track and Field
Crooksville's Frame earns regional berth: Grace Frame finished second place in the shot with a throw of 37-2 1/2 to earned another regional berth during the first day of the Division III district meet at Nelsonville.
Frame, a returning state qualifier, trailed only Frankfort Adena's Sydney Foglesong, who marked at 40-4 1/2. Both will compete in the discus on Saturday.
The boys 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 relays, girls 4x400 relay, Andrew Willison and Trevor Bowen in the 110 hurdles and Blaze Hunter and Bowen in the 300 hurdles advanced to Saturday’s finals.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Roundup: Sheridan softball reaches district finals
