Bethel catcher Allie Sheen tags out Lia Viernes on a strong throw to the plate from center fielder Morgan Rodgers in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Photos Ron Nunnari | The Register-Herald
BROOKVILLE — Bethel gave the Brookville softball team all it could handle Wednesday in the second round of the Division III Southwest 2 sectional tournament.
The Lady Bees defeated Greeneview 4-1 in the first round of the tournament while Brookville drew a first round bye.
During the regular season Bethel got off to a dismal 1-8 start that included an 11-1 loss to Brookville. After that the Lady Bees won 10 of their next 14 games under the tutelage of former Wayne softball and baseball coach Joe Yount.
In Wednesday’s game, Brookville managed to squeak out a 4-2 victory over the much improved Lady Bees. With the win the Lady Blue Devils improved to 14-6 while Bethel concluded its season at 11-12.
Brookville struggled against Bethel pitcher Adaline Etherington’s off-speed pitches. The Lady Devils took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Kara Gardner singled through the left side of the infield to score Jordyn Oliver, who reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and raced home on Gardner’s hit.
The Lady Devils added another run in the third. Pitcher Grace Burton hit a leadoff single with Brianna Abrams coming in to pinch run. Abrams advanced to second on a wild pitch. Isabelle Holp singled to left with Abrams holding at second.
Ryan Eagle hit a fly out to center and Makenzie Roesser popped out to second. Mya Haydon followed with a single to left to score Abrams with Holp advancing to second. Jordyn Oliver singled to center but Bethel senior Morgan Rodgers fired a bullet to the plate to throw out Holp.
Bethel scored its first run in the top of the fourth. Ellie Larkins hit a leadoff single to shallow right field. With two outs Ryleigh Fisher also singled to shallow right with Larkins reaching second. Faith Moorefield singled to center to drive in Larkins with Fisher advancing to third.
Layla Moore came to the plate and hit a hard liner to right center. Right fielder Mya Haydon made a game saving diving catch in the power alley to prevent Fisher and Moorefield from scoring on a ball that would have rolled to the outfield fence.
Brookville boosted its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth, but another outstanding throw to the plate by Rodgers prevented a fourth run from scoring.
Burton hit a leadoff single with Abrams coming in to pinch run. Holp followed with a single through the left side of the infield with Abrams reaching third. Lia Viernes came in to pinch run for Holp.
With Rylan Eagle at bat, Bethel’s catcher tried to pick Abrams off at third. The throw sailed into left field allowing Abrams to score and Viernes to reach second.
A wild pitch enabled Viernes to reach third. Eagle drew a walk and Roesser launched a fly ball to center. Rodgers made the catch and fired another rocket to the plate to throw out Viernes to complete a double play to end the inning with Brookville holding a 3-1 lead.
Bethel made it a 3-2 ballgame in the top of the sixth. Karis Hawk drew a one out walk and with two outs Ryleigh Fisher singled to shallow center with Hawk advancing to second. Faith Moorefield followed with a single to center to score Hawk. Burton struck out Layla Moore to end the threat with two runners on base.
The Lady Blue Devils added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Jordyn Oliver got an infield hit, stole second and scored on a one out single to center by Kara Gardner.
Burton retired the Lady Bees in order in the top of the seventh to secure the victory. She allowed seven hits and two runs with one walk and five strike outs.
Etherington took the loss pitching six innings, allowing 11 hits and four runs with one walk and one strike out.
“We squared a lot of pitches up and hit them right to their center fielder or right to somebody else, so their defense looked really sharp,” said Brookville coach Mike Gardner. “They are much improved from what we saw earlier in the season when we beat them 11-1. They made a game out of it.
“They ran the bases aggressively and plated some runs that way, so they are a well-coached team,” Gardner added.
When the comment came up about center fielder Morgan Rodgers having a strong arm, Gardner said, “You’re not kidding. I think she might be a senior. She was in tears after the game and that kind of got me choked up.”
Brookville advances to face No. 1 seed Waynesville at Waynesville on Monday at 5 p.m.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
