Heading into the softball Division II District Semifinal in Miller City on Wednesday, May 17th the Bryan Lady Golden Bears knew they had a tall task in front of them. The Wapakoneta Lady Redskins were the regular season champs of the Western Buckeye League and the favorites to advance out of this district. Bryan also had some momentum themselves being co-champs of the NWOAL and a thrilling walk off win against Celina in the Sectional final. But it was Wapakoneta who asserted themselves early and cruised to a 10-0 win in 5 innings and a second straight trip to the District Finals where they will meet Napoleon on Saturday May 20th. After retiring Bryan in the top of the 1st inning, Wapakoneta quickly went to work in the home half of the inning against Bryan pitcher Trista Savage. The Lady Redskins put four runs on the board and quickly had a 4-0 lead after one inning. It was more of the same in the 2nd inning, with the Wapakoneta pitcher M. Fisher controlling the Bryan offense. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Lady Redskins continued to have success at the plate scoring four more runs and they quickly had a 8-0 lead going to the 3rd inning. In the 3rd, Bryan continued to have their bats quieted while Wapakoneta was able to add another run in their half of the inning which extended their lead to 9-0. Neither team was able to score in the fourth inning so the lead stayed at 9-0 for the Lady Redskins. Fisher continued to dominate in the circle, giving up just one Bryan hit on the night, a triple by Emily Gorzelanczyk. Holding a 9-0 lead in the bottom of the 5th, Wapakoneta (18-3) pushed across their tenth run of the contest, which ended the game by mercy rule 10-0 in 5 innings. Bryan (16-7) had no answer for the pitching of M. Fisher as she went five innings, surrendering only one hit, with eight strikeouts and no walks in the shutout victory. The Lady Redskins were led offensively by L. Jacobs who was 2-3 with two singles, G. Jolly 2-4 with two singles, and Fisher along with teammate E. Miller who each had a double. Trista Savage pitched all five innings for the Lady Golden Bears giving up ten runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and five walks.
