UNION CITY – The Bradford Lady Railroaders opened 2026 OHSAA Division VII softball tournament play Monday night with a 12-7 road win over the Mississinawa Valley Lady Blackhawks on the Lady Hawks’ home field.
Bradford overcame an early deficit and used timely hitting throughout the game to secure the postseason victory.
The Lady Railroaders struck first in the opening inning after a Mississinawa Valley error allowed a run to score for a 1-0 Bradford lead.
The Lady Blackhawks answered in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 advantage. Cora Hoggatt was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Trinity Reichard followed with a walk. Hoggatt later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1 before Reichard stole home to give the Lady Blackhawks the lead.
Bradford tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third inning when Chloe Elsner grounded out, bringing home a run.
The Lady Blackhawks regained the lead in the bottom of the third after C. Hoggatt opened the inning with a double and Ella Godfrey followed with an RBI single to left field for a 3-2 Mississinawa Valley advantage.
Bradford answered with a decisive fourth-inning rally. A two-out RBI single to right field by Aaliya Biddlestone tied the game before Casey Bolen followed with an infield single that helped put the Lady Railroaders back in front 4-3. Bradford continued to build on the lead the rest of the way to earn the tournament win.
“We had a really good hitting performance today,” said Bradford coach Shon Schaffer.
“That’s what tournament softball is, keeping your composure when you know the score is going to be close,” Schaffer added. “We opened it up, hitting. The girls felt good and saw the ball well, and opened it up.”
“We preach put the ball in play, do your job, lay the bunt down, move runners so we can score,” continued Schaffer. “The girls did an excellent job hitting, clutch hitting.”
Vivian Harleman earned the win in the circle for Bradford while Godfrey took the loss for Mississinawa Valley.
Bradford pounded out 11 hits in the game with several players contributing offensively. Bolen provided a big performance in the middle of the lineup, driving in three runs while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Elsner, Bristol Wombold, Bolen, and MacKenzie Hocker each collected two hits for the Lady Railroaders. Lilly Canan drew two walks as Bradford totaled six free passes on the night.
The Lady Railroaders also played error-free defense behind Harleman.
Mississinawa Valley showed resilience throughout the game and recorded eight hits. Cayde Neukam led the Lady Blackhawks with two RBIs while going 2-for-4. C. Hoggatt, Godfrey, Neukam, and Jada Zehringer each finished with two hits. Reichard stole two bases as part of a four-steal night for the Lady Blackhawks, who also turned a double play defensively.
“I was happy with our fight, our grit,” said Mississinawa Valley coach Shane Buckingham. “That is something we have talked about all year long – never give up, just keep fighting.”
Buckingham pointed to roster depth as an offseason focus for the program.
“One thing we have to work at in the off-season is depth,” said Coach Buckingham. “We don’t have a lot of depth. When one or two people go down, we have to move four or five just to fill those positions. Tonight, that got us a little bit, but I can’t be disappointed.”
“We had three freshmen out there in the outfield,” Buckingham added. “There are not too many teams playing with three freshmen outfielders. If you saw them in February to now, I couldn’t be happier with them.”
BOX SCORE:
123 456 7 R H E
101 222 4 12 11 0 Bradford
201 001 3 7 9 8 Mississinawa Valley
