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St. Henry shortstop Rya Buschur stretches to make a catch during Thursday's Division VI sectional softball final with Delphos Jefferson at the Wally Post Athletic Complex. The Redskins won 4-3 to advance to the district semifinals.
ST. HENRY - After taking a tough loss to Parkway to lose a chance at a Midwest Athletic Conference softball title, St. Henry looked to keep the season going in the Division VI sectional final at home against Delphos Jefferson.
Kennedy Wendel's two-run home run proved to be a spark as Renee Wendel took a 4-1 lead into the top of the seventh before a late home run cut the victory margin to 4-3 at the Wally Post Athletic Complex on Thursday.
The Redskins (9-12) head to the district semifinals on Tuesday in Wapakoneta. St. Henry will take on top-seeded Lincolnview in the late game starting at 6 p.m.
Renee Wendel scattered six hits, did not walk a batter, hit two batters and struck out five as she kept the Wildcats (14-10) scoreless through five innings.
"We did everything we needed to do," said St. Henry coach Alexis Ontrop. "Renee pitched a heckuva game. (Parkway) teed off on her on Saturday (a 19-5 loss at St. Henry) and she was back ready to go today."
The Redskin defense came up big for their pitcher, especially shortstop Rya Buschur, who made several diving plays and finished with five putouts and five assists.
"Rya has been solid," said Ontrop. "For her to come up and make a diving catch, throw to first base and get several outs is pretty awesome."
The first St. Henry run came in the second as Leah Lefeld belted a two-out double. Olivia Gast then grounded to third, where a bobble of the ball allowed Gast to reach safely, with a wild throw allowing Lefeld to trot home from third to make it 1-0.
St. Henry's Kennedy Wendel, right, is greeted by teammates after hitting a two-run home run in Thursday's sectional game against Delphos Jefferson.
In the fourth, Rya Buschur led off with a single. Kennedy Wendel took the first pitch from Claire Brinkman and deposited it over the left-center wall for her fifth home run of the spring to make it 3-0.
"Kennedy is full of power when she wants to be," said Ontrop. "Her getting us going with that home run was huge."
The final run came in the fifth as Paige Felver led off with a double, went to third on Alexis Buschur's ground out, then came home on Lauren Thieman's sacrifice fly to center.
St. Henry's Paige Felver (9) slips past Delphos Jefferson catcher Carolyn Mueller to score in the fifth inning of Thursday's sectional game.
"I thought our bats were good today," said Ontrop. "We definitely timed the pitcher up, which was needed. All around, I thought we did a great job."
Renee Wendel got the first out of the sixth via strikeout before Emma Kunz singled and stole second. After a groundout moved the runner up a base, Ky Eberle busted up the shutout with a single to left to score Kunz. Renee Wendel quickly stifled the threat by getting Gracie Creque to fly out to left.
Down to their final three outs, Jefferson made things interesting. Brinkman singled, but was forced out at second on Briley Geary's grounder up the middle. Wendel struck out Creque for the second out, but Isabela Basinger belted a shot to left-center to get the Wildcats to within a run. Undeterred, Renee Wendel got Carolyn Mueller to pop to Rya Buschur to end the game.
Kennedy Wendel and Natalie Schwieterman each had two hits for St. Henry.
Brinkman, who allowed eight hits and struck out three without issuing a walk, had two of the six Jefferson hits.
