Bryan softball defends Division II district title with win over Lima Bath

“I’m so glad that we got it back,” Bryan junior catcher Ella Voigt said. “It’s just awesome.”

This is the second district title in program history for Bryan (23-1), the No. 1 seed in the UNOH District for a second year in a row. The Golden Bears topped Lima Bath (11-15) 8-7 in last year’s district championship at UNOH on May 19, 2022.

“The girls before have kind of built some stepping stones for us, and we were able to build off of that each season,” Bryan coach Samantha Molina said. “Being able to get to the spot we got last year, hopefully we can keep building and go beyond.”

Before the game started, though, both teams had to wait.

The game was pushed back two and a half hours from its noon start time due to poor field conditions from rain Friday night into early Saturday morning in Lima.

But the delay didn’t slow down the Golden Bears.

Voigt, Bryan’s leadoff hitter, smacked a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second to grab a 1-0 lead for the Golden Bears.

Mackenzie Blevins, who blasted a leadoff single before scoring on Voigt’s base knock, carried the torch by scoring Caitlyn DeWitt (leadoff single) from third on a sacrifice fly to right field in the third.

A catching error on DeWitt contact in the fourth brought home Voigt, who smacked her second of three singles on the day in the frame, from second to extend the Golden Bears’ edge to 3-0.

Voigt drove in courtesy runner Teaghan Blad on another two-out base knock in the fifth and Staten drilled a two-run single to bring home Reese Grothaus (hit by pitch) and Voigt to make it 6-0 Bryan.

The Golden Bears also almost scored in the first inning, loading the bases on singles from Voigt and Marlee Yoder and a Staten walk.

Wildcats starting pitcher Madison Edelbrock, however, induced two groundouts to home and got a strikeout to keep Bryan off the scoreboard through one frame.

“Obviously, none of us wanted to be done. We all just went in with a positive mindset,” said Voigt, who totaled two runs and two RBI with her three singles. “Obviously, we didn’t expect to be playing at 2:30 (p.m.) — we expected to be playing at 12 o’clock. But, everyone was ready and pumped up and there was tons of energy today... There was a bunch of people that came and supported, and it just made it so much fun.”

“We really kept our energy up,” Staten said. “Even when we were waiting, we had music pounding, just trying to set the tone for a great game.”

Staten continued her stellar season in the circle, firing 13 strikeouts with four hits and two walks for the complete-game win.

“My spins... (those have) been working lately, and just trying to keep them off-balance,” Staten said. “They were (calling) illegal pitches and stuff, so it’s kind of hard to keep you in the right mindset. So having that mental toughness is a really big deal during that time.”

Staten also pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, the only time the Wildcats had runners in scoring position.

Tea Sibert drew a leadoff walk, Kyree Stumbaugh moved her over to third on a one-out single to left and catcher’s interference on an Olivia Foster foul ball loaded the bases with two outs.

But Staten got a flyout to herself to escape the threat and sat down six of the next seven Lima Bath batters via four strikeouts, a groundout and a fielder’s choice.

“She’s a great pitcher, and we knew that she threw hard and had a couple good pitches with movement,” Wildcats coach Britt Lauck said. “We did our best (with) what we could prepare for a pitcher that throws significantly harder than what we’re used to. We did the best we could preparing.

“I’m proud of the girls for fighting to get here, and kudos to Bryan and their pitcher. She is a great pitcher.”

Yoder went 4 for 4 on the day with four singles out of the No. 2 spot to complete Bryan’s one-two part of the lineup, which had seven of the team’s 12 hits Saturday.

“Between Marlee being a slapper and then Ella just kind of being a singles, doubles hitter, they always lead the way, they always get on base and get us some baserunners and get things going for us,” Molina said. “Hitting is always contagious. So if they get it started, then everyone else can follow along behind them.”

Blevins totaled two singles with her one run and RBI, with the second hit coming in the fifth before Blad took over for her on the basepaths. Grothaus also contributed a fourth-inning single as Bryan committed just one error.

“We knew that it was going to be a little bit slower than the other nights, so we were just patient in the box and wanted to jump on a good first pitch,” Voigt said. “I think once one person started hitting it was continuously good.”

Edelbrock totaled two strikeouts, two walks and six runs (five earned), Rachel Clark tallied two singles and Claire Armentrout had a first-inning single for the Wildcats, who had three errors.

Bryan will aim to win its first regional semifinal in history when it faces Tallmadge (20-8) at 5 p.m. Wednesday at New Riegel High School. The Blue Devils won the Parma District after winning three games by a combined 57-0 in 15 innings.