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New Bremen first baseman Olivia Thornton applies a tag to Upper Scioto Valley's Brielle Coterman, who dives safely back to the bag in the seventh inning of a Division IV sectional final game on Thursday.
NEW BREMEN - A two-run error in the first inning got New Bremen started, and the Cardinals piled on big hits in the sixth to put away a sectional final win.
The Cardinals knocked off Upper Scioto Valley 9-0 on Thursday to open the Division IV tournament and earned a berth in Monday's 6 p.m. district semifinals against Minster in Wapakoneta.
Olivia Thornton led off the game for New Bremen (12-9) with a bloop single and stole second, and Allison Hays took a five-pitch walk. Ella Pape hit a ground ball through the legs of third baseman Nevaeh Lowery to score both, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Alivia Dammeyer's sacrifice fly.
"That's what we've got to take advantage of," New Bremen coach Gary Moeder said. "Every time we get an extra chance, we've got to use that. Hopefully our bats will start coming around a little better."
The Cardinals put runners on in every inning, threatening again in the fourth when Makenzie Bornhorst walked, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout, but USV starter Kennedy Hall got a strikeout and a pop flyout to right field to strand her there.
Thornton led off the fifth with another single and Hays hit a rocket down the third base line, but Lowery nabbed the ball and fired to first to double off Thornton. After another error put Pape on first, Hall got a popout to keep the deficit to three.
"We put the ball in play, but most of the time it was right at them," Moeder said. "Allison had this lined shot at third base - if she doesn't catch that, Thornton scores easy and that's probably a triple for Allison."
New Bremen's Makenzie Bornhorst crosses the plate ahead of the throw in the sixth inning.
In the sixth, though, the New Bremen bats came to life. Dammeyer hit a deep fly ball to center for a triple, and Bornhorst dropped a bunt down the first base line and reached with a single as Dammeyer scored. Lauren Homan hit a grounder to second, where Shalyn Lawrence threw home and Dammeyer slid in safely.
Dwenger was hit by a pitch and Adrianna Heitkamp bunted the runners over before a pop-up gave Hall two outs. Hays hit a grounder that tied up shortstop Caitlyn Cunningham, scoring another run, and Pape lined a two-run double down the left field line.
Alayna Ross was intentionally walked and Dammeyer hit a grounder through the left side that tailed toward the line, scoring Pape to make it 9-0 and putting runners on second and third.
Hall got a groundout to end the inning, but Ross pitched around a one-out single in the seventh to finish off the win.
Ross pitched a complete game for the win and navigated out of several jams. Back-to-back strikeouts stranded two runners in the first, and after a double and an error put a runner on third with one out in the third, Ross struck out two more batters to keep the Rams off the board.
New Bremen right fielder Adrianna Heitkamp secures the game-ending catch along the right field line.
Sydney Christensen got to third in the fourth with two outs before Ross struck out the next batter, but in the fifth, USV (14-7) stepped up the pressure. Sophia Hurley worked a nine-pitch leadoff walk and Hall reached on a fielding error before Hurley was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice.
Ross struck out Brielle Coterman for the second out, but another fielder's choice failed and the Rams loaded the bases. Ross got Lawrence to swing at all four pitches, fouling off the third before striking out to end the threat.
"When I watched them Monday against Marion, that was one thing they did: they got a girl on, they were going to do everything they could to get her in scoring position," Moeder said. "They did a great job against Marion, and good thing Alayna came up with what she did."
Sydney Christensen snuck a single inside the third base line to start the third and moved up on a wild pitch, but Ross struck out her 13th and 14th batters to end the inning.
New Bremen will play Minster for the second time in a week after Parkway and St. Henry face off in the opener. The Cardinals fell 5-3 to the Wildcats at Four Seasons Park on Tuesday.
"We didn't do bad against Minster," Moeder said. "Got to hope they can use that, get a little confidence from that. Big thing is, we can't go in there being afraid of them."
