BELLEFONTAINE – The Tri-Village softball team executed a bases loaded squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 7th inning to pull out a 1-0 win over Minster to earn the right to advance to the OHSAA DVI Softball State Final Four in Akron, Ohio. The state semifinal game is at Firestone Stadium – 1575 Firestone Parkway, Akron, OH and the 28-0 Patriots will take on the 23-10 Dalton Bulldogs on Friday at 3 pm.
Minster who handed Tri-Village a 5-3 loss in the regional finals last year gave pause to an event for the entire Tri-Village team and coaches by extracting dirt from the playing surface that each of them kept in personal vials for the last 372 days serving as a reminder of the game and motivation to get back to the regional finals.
They made it back, almost like it was scripted with Minster again standing in the way. The Wildcats scratched and clawed all day with multiple chances to score in six of the seven innings, only to see Tri-Village deny them over and over from stepping on home plate.
Minster wasted no time loading up the bases in the first inning, and with one out TV got back-to-back pop-ups to Addy Wright at first and Tai Mize at second base. The Patriots would go down in order in the bottom half of the inning.
The Cats got a walk and a hit batter at the top of the second inning, but starting pitcher Elizabeth Poling got a strikeout and a long fly-ball to get out of it.
Minster left two more runners on in the third inning, in the bottom half, Addy Wright would get the first hit of the game for TV but would be left on with the score remaining 0-0 after three innings.
Minster drew a walk to start the fourth and followed with a base hit and no outs. Three consecutive hitters would hit fly balls to right field, and each time Kash Mead gloved them, keeping the Patriots out of harm’s way.
Tri-Village Elizabeth Poling who leads the teams with 23 wins would throw four innings (5 hits, two walks three hit by pitch) and was able to get out trouble in all four innings … but at the top of the fifth inning Addi Inskeep who homered last year on the Patriots hit a deep ball to center off the fence. Poling hit the next batter, and with two runners on and no outs, Tri-Village coach Emily Osborne decided to change pitchers.
“It was a difficult zone today, part of Liz (Poling) game is to be aggressive and to go at them because we know they will adjust at the plate. A few hitters crowded the plate, we’re not trying to hit batters, just be aggressive even when their toes are on the line. We’re trying to hit the same line we always hit and it’s a matter of inches sometimes … but I’m proud of her, she is our lead pitcher working hard to win the game for us,” Osborne explained.
“Bringing Emma into pitch was a difficult decision … but she is a great off-speed pitcher so for us part of our strategy, knowing Minster from top to bottom made adjustments we were playing it strategically,” Osborne added.
Greer who has pitched a handful of innings, got the first hitter to pop-up but the ball was dropped, and Minster now had the based loaded with no outs.
The Patriots sleight of hand escape over the first four innings appeared again and the Patriot fans admission price included watching the great escape artist “Houdini” himself get out of trouble.
Greer would strike out the next two batters she faced and then got a ground ball to Kash Mead for a force out at second base, so much like the tension of seeing Houdini underwater in shackles somehow escape without drowning, so did the Patriots by getting out of the inning unscathed.
“It’s really intimidating to come in with bases almost loaded, but I have my job, to clear them and do what they ask me to,” Emma Greer said
Greer did her job again at the top of the sixth inning taking the Cats down in order, the only inning of the game they didn’t threaten to score.
Unfortunately, the Patriots also went down in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Tri-Village would have their backs up against the wall again in the top of the 7th inning.
Greer got a strikeout to start, but Minster got back-to-back hits and then aided by an error would have runners at second and third knocking on the door again.
They would resort to trying small ball with a bunt that was fielded by first base Addy Wright who was unable to tag the hitter going down first base line. So, Wright looked at the runner from 3rd base who was halfway freezing her, then threw the ball to Tai Mize, who was also pulled up between third and home due to the bunt. Now the runner had to decide whether to go back to third or home. She broke home committed to score and Mize quickly flipped the ball to catcher Hailey Burk who got the tag under the headfirst airborne dive for the for the ultimate denial of home plate.
“I was sort expecting a bunt,” Addy Wright said. “We’ve been working bunt coverage a lot lately. I was thinking about what I would do if it came to me, and it did. I was definitely watching the girl on third and saw her going down the line, originally the plan was to go to Cam covering third but then saw Tai and she snagged it and relayed it to home.”
Greer then walked the next batter to set up another bases loaded situation … but also set-up a force out at any base. A slow grounder rolled right to Wright at first and she stepped on the bag for the ultimate escape, as the Patriot’s “Great Houdini” act slipped the cuffs one more time.
Coaches often repeat themselves by telling players that details matter, doing the little things well and execution matter, all are keys to winning, and that proved true in the bottom half of the 7th inning as the coaches made strategic moves and calls that would lead to big things.
The Patriots with just one hit so far in the game needed some magic and got that from Kaley Brandon who was subbed in for Emma Cantrell. She led off the with a dinger between third and shortstop for just the 2nd hit of the game. Then Cantrell was subbed back in as a courtesy runner for Brandon, both key strategic moves.
“Kaylee has that strong mentality, and we knew that if we put her out there, she would have that opportunity to put the ball in play. She was a starter at the beginning of the season, got injured and has kind of bounced back. We’ve used her in a lot of different roles, and I told her I don’t know where you’re going in, but I know you’ll fill that role that we need, and I’m so proud of her for just staying cool and knowing what she needed to do and doing it for the team,” Osborne exclaimed.
Hailey Burk coming off the big tag at home plate, then put down a sacrifice bunt to move Cantrell to second with one out with Camryn Osborn coming to the plate.
Osborne who hit a towering home run last year off the scoreboard against Minster caused their relief pitcher to be careful in her approach with her first pitch going low and inside, while Cantrell would test the catcher by getting a large secondary lead at second base.
On the next pitch to Osborne that was high and tight, Cantrell increased her secondary lead. But on the third pitch, which was low and inside Cantrell used the secondary to her advantage when the catcher tossed it back to the pitcher, she broke hard and taking third base without a throw. The steal would tie the school record for thefts in a season at 33.
“I got a bigger jump to see what the catcher would do, she would look at me then throw it back hard to the pitcher. Then on the third pitch I delayed, looked at her and she didn’t look at me at all and threw it right back. So, I took the chance that I could take the base to give us the winning run at third,” Emma Cantrell stated.
“Emma puts a lot of pressure on the other team with her speed and that’s why we subbed her back in the game. She’s just wheels and sees the game so well where other people would have just been like, all right, I’m good being on base, but she sees it aggressively when she’s on the bases. So, I’m real proud of her for taking that initiative and helping put us in a good position to score,” Osborne said.
Minster then chose to walk Osborne and Aereonna Baker to load the bases to get to freshman Kash Mead, looking to turn a double play or get a force at home.
Mead took the first pitch strike call and then offered up a bunt on the next pitch. It was fielded by the pitcher, but Cantrell was already full speed ahead with one goal, get home.
She slid into home ahead of the throw to complete the perfect squeeze for a thrilling 1-0 win over Minster.
On Mead’s bunt, Cantrell was confident in her teammate.
“I knew she was going to get it down, I had just one goal in mind to go 60’ as fast I can and get home,” Cantrell smiled.
Kash Mead, wasn’t a part of the Regional Final game last year as a player but she’s lived the experience by being the daughter of assistant coach Shane Mead who found herself in a high-pressure situation but was able to show poise and execute the call.
“He (coach Shane Mead) told me to get a bunt down and I was able to do that. My dad has coached me since the second grade, and this has been my dream to win a game like this. I knew my freshman year was going to be something special, but I didn’t know it would be this great and I’m so excited for this team,” Kash exclaimed.
Coach Osborne elaborated on Kash execution as well.
“Kash has been in the two hole for us for a while to put the ball in play, bunting at times. We moved her down a little bit, just to give her a little bit more opportunity to hit some across the plate. It was a perfect time to use her in this situation knowing she could bunt along with having wheels on third base. It was kind of a perfect scenario at that point with the two of them executing at the end,” Osborne stated
In a game where Minster left 14 base runners stranded presented the Patriots with many high-pressure situations where many teams might have folded. Tri-Village showed poise, resolve, mental toughness and executed when it mattered the most.
“It was a great game. They are a strong team, but we kept plugging along we knew we had our work cut out for us, and we’re just glad we came away with the win,” Osborne said.
The win fulfilled the goal from last season by giving the Patriots a chance to return the dirt and exorcise the demons from last year’s loss, with the reward being a trip to the State Final Four, and that mission was accomplished.
The 2025 team will try and accomplish what four other Tri-Village state final four teams (1979, 1980, 1981 & 1985) hasn’t been able to do, and that is bring back a state championship
On going to the final four Addy Wright expressed how it feels.
“It feels so very special, and this team definitely deserves it. We overcame so many bases loaded situations and made some big plays. In those big moments we have to keep our feelings inside, just stay calm and don’t let it stress you out and just get one out at a time, and we did, and it feels so amazing,” Wright beamed.
Emma Greer also talked about how special it is to be going to the final four.
“This is really exciting and I’m happy that we’re going to be able to carry our senior (Emma Cantrell) to the final four,” Greer stated.
Cantrell who earned her way as well agreed.
“It feels amazing, especially with this team, everybody gets along, we are all friends and work together well, this is so special,” Cantrell commented.
Coach Osborne also couldn’t be more excited.
“We’ll celebrate this regional win, get a little bit of a break, regroup, and then put together a game plan for Dalton. There’s just so much talent on this team, from top to bottom and so I’m proud of all of them that we get to experience going to Firestone Stadium in Akron, together,” Osborne concluded.
