Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PICKERINGTON — When Logan Elm took an early punch on Wednesday afternoon, the Braves did exactly what they’d been taught to do all week long.
They didn’t flinch.
After digging an early 2-0 hole, Logan Elm (20-8) responded as it has all season long … with a counter punch.
The Braves put up five runs in the fifth inning before a seventh inning three-run homer from senior Taylor Fowler helped them finish off Jonathan Alder (21-5) by an 8-5 final in a Division II regional semifinal.
“We’ve talked about it all week. We’ve talked about not flinching. You’re playing another team that also wants to win in the other dugout,” LE coach Jamie Binkley said. “They’re not going to give up. They’ll swing back and they’ll come back after you. So how are you going to respond when you’re in that type of dog fight? We didn’t flinch. I couldn’t be more proud of our girls.”

CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Fowler’s three-run bomb was the game’s most important hit and the Braves would’ve been in trouble without another strong pitching performance from Sadie Binkley.
However, those were just the highlights.
In some shape or form, every single player on LE’s roster played a part in Wednesday’s victory.
“Taylor came up with a big three-run home run to put us ahead, Tia had two RBIs earlier and that was really the difference in the game,” Jamie Binkley said. “Ryleigh Wolfe, our cleanup hitter, put down a squeeze bunt to get a rally going. We had Lynsay [Vanhoose] with a lot of speed on third base at that time. Do your job. Play team ball. We did that. Not a lot of people may remember those little things. But coaches do. We’ve been hammering that stuff home.”
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third and made it a 2-0 ballgame in the fourth.
But Logan Elm fought right back.
Vanhoose singled to lead off the top of the fifth before stealing second. Binkley then singled and advanced to second on a throw to third — one that kept Vanhoose from scoring.
That’s when Wolfe laid down a picture perfect bunt, scoring Vanhoose and cutting the deficit in half. Jacie Clifton came to the plate next and grounded into an out, but it allowed Katie Wilson — pinch-running for Binkley — to cross home plate for a 2-2 game.
And the Braves were far from finished.
Lucy Caplinger singled in Hannah Gooley — running for Wolfe — before Peyton Richendollar doubled, placing runners on second and third. Tia Fowler then sliced a two-run single into right field before the inning ended, furthering Logan Elm’s lead to 5-2.
In the bottom half, Jonathan Alder tallied a pair of RBI singles to make it a 5-4 count. The Pioneers then scored again in the bottom of the sixth, wiping the slate clean.
But that opened the door for Taylor Fowler. After a walk to Clifton and a single from Caplinger, Fowler took an 0-2 pitch and deposited it over the center field fence — which was more than enough cushion for Binkley to close the door in the bottom half.
“The game plan was to have good, long at-bats and get something done for the team, especially if we had runners on,” Jamie Binkley said. “We came up with big hits. There were several times this year where we’d get runners on, but we couldn’t get that timely hit. It was that way at the beginning of this game, too. But as the game went on, you could see that the girls were ready.”
Offensively, Caplinger led the charge with a 3-for-4 effort alongside two runs and an RBI. Wolfe was 2-for-4, Vanhoose finished 2-for-4 with a run, Taylor Fowler ended 1-for-3 with the three-run shot and Tia Fowler went 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
In the circle, Binkley tossed all seven innings, surrendered five earned runs and struck out six. She was also 2-for-4 at the plate.
“Every time Sadie gets in the circle, she gives us a chance to win,” Jamie Binkley said. “I’m her dad so I probably overcorrect and maybe don’t give her as much credit as I should. But she pitched a really good game. She’s pitched well the entire tournament and we’ve played pretty good defense behind her.”
Logan Elm now advances to a Division II regional final at 5 p.m. on Friday at Pickerington Central High School.
The Braves will face off with Dover, who beat Unioto by a 7-1 final on Wednesday.
“We have some really tough kids and we have some experienced kids,” Jamie Binkley said. “We returned nine starters that went to the district semifinal round last year and lost by a run. So we knew we were going to be tough coming in and then we had some young kids come up that helped us fill some holes. The girls just show up every day.”
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