ANSONIA – The No. 4 seed Ansonia Lady Tigers took advantage of two home runs to jump out to a 5-0 lead after two innings of OHSAA DVII sectional tournament play over the No. 11 seed Jackson Center Lady Tigers on their way to a 7-3 win and advance on the tournament trail.
“The girls came out, played a little long ball,” said Ansonia coach David Fisherback. “Proud of the girls. We have been focusing on hitting. It’s amazing what a year makes. Younger girls become a year older, a year stronger. Last year, we might have had four, maybe five home runs; this year, we’re sitting at 19, close to 20.”
Ansonia got on the board in the bottom of the first with a 2-out single off the bat of Ava Thatcher and an Addie Geyer home run over the centerfield fence, giving Ansonia an early 2-0 lead after one complete.
Inning No. 2 had Lillian Perry leading off with a single to left, a 2-out Kylie Caldwell single, and a Shyann McKenna line drive homer over the centerfield fence, giving Ansonia a 5-0 advantage that would hold up for the win.
Both teams went down in order in the third with Jackson Center getting on the board at the top of the fourth, a single run to trail 5-1. Ansonia got the run back in the bottom of the inning using a McKenna single, a Jayda Mangen walk, a Geyer single loading the bases, setting up McKenna scoring on a steal of home and a 6-1 Ansonia lead.
Jackson Center dented the board for a fifth-inning run. Ansonia got it back in the bottom of the sixth with a McKenna leadoff triple and racing home on a run-scoring Mangen sacrifice fly to left, giving Ansonia a 7-2 lead.
Ansonia got out of a seventh-inning two-out bases-loaded jam, with the Jackson Center Lady Tigers’ attempted seventh-inning comeback falling well short, scoring a single run, giving the Ansonia Lady Tigers a 4-run tournament victory.
“I had another girl ready to go,” said Fisherback. “Bre is a sophomore, and she was hitting her spots pretty good, a couple of walks. She’s working on keeping those walks down – when she does that, she will be an outstanding pitcher.”
“Our pitching staff is young, but any girl can step up and do the job,” Fisherback added. “The most exciting thing about Ansonia Softball.”
Both Lady Tigers teams played an impressive error-free ballgame.
“Very proud of our defense tonight,” Fisherback noted. “Defense played outstanding, we made plays, the girls are hustling. Jackson Center is a good team.”
Ansonia sophomore Bre’ana Walker went the distance on the mound for Ansonia, pitching 7.0 strong innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits, 6 walks while striking out six.
McKenna paced the Ansonia Lady Tigers going 3-4, including a home run, a triple, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored. Geyer was 2-3 with a walk, a home run, 2 RBI, and 1 run.
Thatcher went 3-4 with a double, Caldwell 1-3, 1 run; Perry 1-3; Manger 2 walks, a sacrifice fly, 1 RBI; Kaiser, HBP, a walk, 1 run.
“We’re not done, we know we’re going to play Russia,” Coach Fisherback stated. “We went up there and got our first win of the year, hit three home runs up there. We know what they have pitching-wise, so we’ll be ready. We’ll work on hitting the next two days, focus on our defense, and focus on being ball players … the girls are putting everything together.”
BOX SCORE
123 456 7 R H E
000 110 1 3 7 0 Jackson Center
230 101 X 7 10 0 Ansonia
