KINGS MILLS — Ross scored eight runs in its final two innings Tuesday and defeated Wilmington in the Division II Cincinnati 2 sectional championship, 11-5, at Kings High School.
Wilmington’s season ends at 15-9. Ross will continue in the tournament. The Rams, 14-9, will play 5 p.m. Friday at Mason High School in a district championship game against either Clinton-Massie or Monroe. Those two teams were scheduled to play Tuesday but a bad base forced the game to be postponed and moved to 2 p.m. Wednesday at Lefferson Park in Middletown.
“I am very proud of our team for accomplishing what they did this season,” said WHS coach Glen Blessing. “They really started to figure the game out as the year progressed. They also grew together as a family and stuck together. Really going to miss our seniors. They had great final years individually and really were the glue that held this team together. They all had a positive impact on the team as well as the program.”
The Rams were scoreless in the first two innings but then found their hitting stroke and scored in each of the next four innings.
Ross first baseman Ally Ivey blasted a mammoth two-run homer in the third to give the Rams a 2-1 lead. The ball banged off the fence of the KHS baseball field, some 30 feet behind and uphill from the softball playing field.
“She is a very good hitter,” Blessing said of the Loyola of Chicago-bound Ivey. “She hits anything thrown to her. Probably should have stayed down and away in her second at bat. Actually, we were going to walk her with first base open and two outs. Then again, that didn’t work out so well when we chose to do that when first was open again with two outs. It’s a funny game that can really leave you scratching your head sometimes.”
The Rams plated another run in the fourth to extend the difference to 3-1.
But Wilmington battled back in the fifth when Courtney Smart singled home Lyla Self and Olivia Veidt to tie the game, 3-3. Smart later double home another run in the seventh.
“Overall, we left several runs on the field,” Blessing said. “I think nine left on base, most of which were in scoring position. We just weren’t able to get enough timely hits.”
In the bottom of the fifth, though, Ross put together five hits and scored four runs to take control of the game. The Lady Rams added a grand slam by Whitley Arno to all but seal the victory.
SUMMARY
May 16, 2017
@Kings High School
Div II Cincinnati 2
Sectional championship
Ross 11 Wilmington 5
W 100.020.2…..5-10-1
R 002.144.x…..11-14-1
(5) WILMINGTON (ab-r-h-rbi) Toller 3-2-1-0 Self 2-1-0-0 Veidt 4-1-2-0 Smart 4-1-2-3 McKenna 4-0-3-1 Blessing 4-0-2-1 Younker 3-0-0-0 Flint 3-0-0-0 Tackett 3-0-0-0 Hardin 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 30-5-10-5
(11) ROSS (ab-r-h-rbi) Foster 5-1-2-0 Emenaker 4-2-2-0 Poling 1-2-0-0 Ivey 3-3-3-2 Amo 4-1-1-4 Grau 4-2-2-1 Meyer 2-0-2-1 Vangen 0-1-0-0 Gleason 3-0-1-2 Ohmer 3-0-1-1. TOTALS 30-11-14-11
2B: W-Veidt, Smart; R-Gleason
HR: R-Ivey, Amo
SB: W-Veidt; R-Foster, Ivey
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)
Wilmington
Veidt (L, 11-5) 6-14-11-7-1-2
Ross
Meyer (W) 7-10-5-4-2-3
HBP: By Meyer (Younker)
