PICKERINGTON — Dublin Scioto collected five of its seven hits in the final two innings to advance past Teays Valley 4-2 in eight innings Wednesday in a Division II regional semifinal.
The Irish (18-8) were the first to score when back-to-back one-out errors by the Vikings allowed a run to cross in the second.
“We really shot ourselves in the foot early with defensive errors,” TV coach Derrick Hastler said. “Those things are uncharacteristic of us. We weren’t being ourselves – we weren’t relaxed and just playing softball.”
TV loaded the bases on an error and two walks in the bottom of the second but was unable to get a runner across.
The score stayed 1-0 as both teams went down 1-2-3 in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Irish had a two-out single in the sixth but were unable to move her any further.
Micah Mann led off TV’s portion of the sixth with the Vikings’ only hit of the night – a single to left. She stole second as Scioto’s Alexis Richie recorded a strikeout. Following a flyball out to left, Mann stole third during an at-bat where Makayla Jones walked. Jones took second on the first pitch of Aimee DeWeese’s at-bat.
A wild pitch brought in Mann to tie the game and Jones moved up to third. DeWeese then walked and took second. A passed ball gave Jones the opportunity to score, and the Vikings finished the inning up 2-1.
The seventh started out with TV’s Alyvia Lawrentz getting the Irish to pop up the first pitch for an out. Scioto’s Abbi Clark then doubled to the fence in left. A popup to second had the Irish down to their final out.
Katy Joseph worked the count full before smacking a ball to right center that drove in Clark and tied the game.
In the Vikings’ half of the seventh, it was another 1-2-3 inning.
Lyla Magnussen got the Irish off to a strong start in the top of the eighth as she hit a ball to center and doubled as the umpire ruled the Vikings didn’t maintain control of the ball on the tag as she slid into second.
Richie then stepped to the plate to help her own cause as she blasted a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield fence to put her team up 4-2.
Armed with a 4-2 lead, Richie recorded her fifth 1-2-3 inning on a flyball to center, a strikeout and another fly to center to seal the win.
Richie struck out 15, issued five walks, yielded only one hit and the two runs.
“Richie had a heck of a day in the circle and when you’re facing a pitcher like that and runs are at a premium, you can’t afford to give any away,” Hastler said. “So, we give one away early and are playing tight for a while and it took a while to settle in.
“It’s not one thing — as much as it is individual, it is a team sport, and they were the better team today.”
Lawrentz went the distance for the Vikings as she struck out 11, did not issue a walk and gave up seven hits.
TV finished the year with a 22-6 record – 14 of those wins coming from a perfect run through the OCC Buckeye – and Wednesday’s game was the first regional appearance for the Vikings since 2018.
“I think when we look at what they set out to do, this stings right now, but as we get some distance and are able detach from the moment, I think they have nothing but to be proud of themselves for what they accomplished this year,” Hastler said. “There are a lot of other teams that want to be playing ball right now – to make it to a regional semifinal. That’s a big deal and can’t be taken for granted. They did a lot of good things all year long to put us in this position to get here. Dublin Scioto just got the best of us today.”
Scioto will face Mount Vernon Friday at Pickerington Central at 5 p.m. for the regional championship.
