Wheelersburg softball
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Brock Netter

Brock is SOSA's primary writer and has worked for the Coshocton Tribune, the Kankakee Daily Journal (Ill.), the Vinton-Jackson Courier and the Jackson Telegram. He's a six-time award-winning journalist, a lifelong WWE fan, a suffering Bengals fan and calls the sidelines his home.

Wheelersburg tops Adena, breezes into regional semifinal with decisive win

The Pirates are headed back to the Sweet 16.

Brock Netter, Editor

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

ATHENS — Some things never change. 

For the last four years, district championships and Wheelersburg have been a duo that fit together like peanut butter and jelly. 

Make that five in a row.

The Pirates opened the floodgates in the third inning of Thursday’s Division V district final at Ohio University, looking dominant in a 15-0 run-rule win over Adena.

“We lost a lot of talent and leadership from last season, and we had some questions about what type of team we were going to be,” Wheelersburg coach Teresa Ruby said. “Our identity was unknown, but these girls have grown and matured so much over the season. We had a couple rough patches that we endured and came out on the other side unscathed. But it’s been so much fun watching this group come together and have this kind of season. I couldn’t be happier for them.” 

Wheelersburg’s Kaylynn Carter celebrates a home run at third base during the Pirates’ win.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA

Speed for days

Coming into Thursday’s contest, Wheelersburg (24-0) had a simple game plan, defensively: take away the bunt. 

In their district semifinal victory over Meigs, the Warriors (17-8) laid down 16 successful bunts, leading to chaos on the base paths.

That was not the case against the Pirates. 

“There were some things in practice that we worked on after having the chance to watch them in their district semifinal game,” Ruby said. “But doing it in practice and in a game are two completely different things. It’s on the players to execute those things, and our girls did that flawlessly.”

It wasn’t just bunts the Pirates took away. They negated everything. Kaylynn Carter may have only struck out two batters on the night, but she only surrendered one hit. 


PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s district title win over Adena


The Pirates swarmed to every ball, crashing hard on any bunt attempts and played with a level of energy the Warriors couldn’t match as the game progressed. 

“Kaylynn pitched one heck of a game and we knew that we had to take the bunt away,” Ruby said. “We talked about getting out to an early lead and making them hit the ball instead of playing small ball. Our energy was a lot better also. We talked after the Rock Hill game and our energy wasn’t really there that night. We know we’re going to get every team’s best game. So if we don’t match their energy, good things aren’t going to happen.” 

Bombs away

Wheelersburg already had a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the third, but the Pirates shifted into high gear from there.

It started with a two-run double from Jalynn Drake, who then scored on a two-run moonshot from Makenzie Mullins to make it 7-0.

“I was struggling quite a bit early in the season, but I realized that it’s a mindset game and that I have to do what I know how to do,” Mullins said. “I’ve played softball my whole life, so the game doesn’t change and you just have to rely on what you know.” 

The Pirates were down to their final out in the inning, but that didn’t matter.

With two runners on, Carter stepped up to the dish and promptly uncorked a three-run laser over the left field fence to make it 10-0. 

After a single and a walk put two additional runners on, a steal of home plate was followed by RBI singles from Drake, Lauren Truitt and Mylee Jo Gleim, as well as an RBI double from Mullins, to mark out the night’s final score.

“I had my struggles as well, but I learned to trust myself because I’ve worked hard my whole life for this moment. So why wouldn’t I trust my abilities?” Drake said. “This is really special for us, and we wanted to win this for our seniors. They’ve been such great leaders to us and we wanted to prove to them how good we are because we know how good they are.” 

Wheelerbsurg’s Makenzie Mullins helped the Pirates beat Adena on Wednesday.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA

Stat book

Mullins finished 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs while Carter — in addition to the win in the circle — was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs. 

Drake went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs while Wright was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

What’s on tap

As Adena’s season reaches its end, Wheelersburg advances to a Division V regional semifinal on Wednesday against Piketon, who defeated Zane Trace to advance.

That contest will take place at 2 p.m., Wednesday at Ohio University.

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