Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — After an impressive start to the season, especially in conference play, Zane Trace has suffered its fair share of losses.
That’s no secret.
In fact, entering a Division V district quarterfinal at Huntington, the Pioneers had dropped six of their last eight decisions.
But after the performance they put forth with their season on the line on Tuesday, those recent losses that seemed to be piling up seem like a distant memory.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Nobody cares anymore.
Behind an offense that pounded out 11 hits and Brynn Wipert’s 11-strikeout performance in the circle, Zane Trace (9-15) handed the Huntsmen a decisive 12-5 loss to advance.
Whether or not they’ll be playing with house money remains to be seen. But most importantly, they’re still sitting at the table.
“I like to split the whole season into three seasons. The first is before conference play, the next is conference play and the third is when it’s time for the tournament run,” Zane Trace coach Morgan York said. “So it’s a fresh start. So I told them that as long as they play with heart and effort, good things happen. That’s what happened tonight. They were talking, they didn’t give up and they worked together. It didn’t take one person to win that game. It took all 12 of them.”
Through three innings of action, neither team had a base hit.
But the top of the fourth inning was a precursor to the rest of the night. Wipert sent a screamer into the left field grass and the floodgates seemed to open.
Wipert’s single was the start of a four-run inning, a lead the Pioneers would never surrender.
“They really tapped into practice yesterday and just ran with it tonight,” York said. “I was just telling them to swing at good pitches and not try to do too much. I think when we try to do too much, we hit it in the air or straight into the ground. They finally just started trusting each other. We got our bunts down, had good base running and everything else fell into place.”
After Wipert singled, Laynie Scott laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position. Reagan Arthurs then singled, sending Wipert home and making it a 1-0 count.
The Pioneers were far from finished, though.
After Kaydance Burkitt was hit by a pitch, Carlie Clark singled to load the bases. Grace Lyon then worked a five-pitch walk, pushing ZT’s second run across the plate. Haylynn Boggess-Pierce followed with an RBI before Aubree Thomas followed suit, making it 4-0 heading into the bottom half.
In the fifth, the Pioneers tacked on two more.
Wipert singled again before Scott and Arthurs walked to juice the bases. The Huntsmen (12-15) recorded two outs and looked as if they’d get out of the inning unscathed. However, a fielding error allowed two runs to score, pushing the lead to 6-0.
That was more than enough run support for Wipert, who was dealing.
The senior went the distance, allowing just one earned run on five hits and whiffing 11.
“Brynn could’ve easily backed down a few times and she just went right at them,” York said. “She has a bulldog mentality and she was just laser-focused all night long. She knew that she wasn’t going to no-hit [Huntington]. That’s the best hitting team in the SVC, I think, one through nine. She went right at them and trusted her defense. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Huntington did break ground in the scoring column in the fifth, getting a two-run single from Leah McCloskey to cut the deficit to 6-2. However, the Pioneers eventually answered by putting up a six-spot in the top of the seventh — a rally centered around RBI singles from Thomas, her second, and Boggess-Pierce.
“I’m so proud of Aubree,” York said of Thomas. “She just listens, taps in and does what she needs to do. She’s an athlete. She’s going to do whatever it takes to win a ballgame. I’m just happy to have her in her last year. I couldn’t imagine this team without her.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Allie Baker gave Huntington a shimmer of hope with a leadoff home run. Taylor Tisdale later singled into right field, allowing a fourth run to score, before Rylee Nolan followed suit with an RBI single of her own.
But Wipert had seen enough. She struck out the next hitter and induced a groundout to end the threat, putting the finishing touches on a 12-5 victory.
Statistically, seven different Pioneers had base hits and four had multi-hit games — Boggess-Pierce, Thomas, Wipert and Arthurs. Boggess-Pierce and Thomas each added a pair of RBIs while Scott was 1-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs.
As for Huntington, Baker led the way with a 2-for-3 effort, including the solo homer. Savannah Bushatz and Tisdale also chipped in with extra-base hits and an RBI each.
While the Huntsmen’ season comes to an end, the Pioneers now look towards a Division V district semifinal contest at 4 p.m., May 21 at Ohio University. There, Zane Trace will take on Ironton, who beat Alexander by an 11-4 final to advance.
“I don’t care who’s on the other side, if we catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball and do things together, good things happen,” York said. “That’s going to be our game plan. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and go right at them, just like tonight.”
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