By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
FINDLAY — Edgerton didn’t have a lot of scoring opportunities against its GMC rival Ayersville.
But the Bulldogs managed just enough offense to back up a stellar performance in the circle from Olivia Wallace for a 2-0 win in the Division VII regional semifinals at Findlay High School.
The first inning presented one of the few scoring chances for Edgerton. Alivia Farnham and Wallace would walk with one away before Pilot ace Kendra Waldron recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
Ayersville (20-3) would get one runner on base in each of the first four innings, but each time Wallace escaped trouble as the game remained scoreless entering the sixth.
Ayden King started the sixth with a double, and Farnham was hit by a pitch to put the first two batters of the inning on base.
King and Farnham would then each get in scoring position on a passed ball. After a Wallace strikeout, Edgerton would get on the board as an Ava Swank sacrifice bunt resulted in the first Ayersville error of the inning as King scored from third to make it 1-0.
Ava Giesige’s sacrifice bunt resulted in another Ayersville error, and Farnham came around to score to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Waldron ended the inning by getting Amelia Giesige to pop out on a bunt, and Swank was out trying to score later in the inning.
Things would get interesting in the Pilots’ final at-bat. Wallace retired the first two batters before Annalee Weisgerber and Allison Eldridge singled, and Aubree Limber reached on an error to load the bases.
Wallace escaped one more time as she would induce a pop-out to third by AnnMarie Sigler on a 0-2 pitch to send the Bulldogs back to the regional finals.
Wallace ended up surrendering seven hits on the day with one strikeout. Waldron took the hard-luck loss for Ayersville after allowing just one hit and striking out 13.
Edgerton (18-4) will now face Mohawk (25-3) in the regional finals on Friday night back in Findlay.
EHS 000 002 0 – 2 1 1
AHS 000 000 0 – 0 7 2
WP- Olivia Wallace (IP-7, R-0, H-7, K-1, BB-0)
LP- Kendra Waldron (IP-7, R-2, H-1, K-13, BB-3)
LEADING HITTERS: (Ayersville) Kendra Waldron – 3 singles; Allison Eldridge – 2 singles; (Edgerton) Ayden King – double; Ava Swank – RBI
