By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School varsity softball team lost 8-0 at Leipsic in the Div. IV softball sectional finals Thursday evening, May 12, to be eliminated from the tournament.
"We still need to cut down on the errors to win games," said Ada head coach Jeff Bassitt. The Bulldog girls committed 10 miscues, while the Vikings made no errors.
The Lady Bulldogs fell to 5-13 with the defeat. The Viking girls improved to 16-4 with the win and advanced to the district semifinals next week in Elida.
Viking center fielder Marisa Hermiller made a diving catch of a line drive hit by Jenna Bassitt leading off the game, which seemed to help set the tone for the contest.
Leipsic went on to score in each of the first three innings to build an early 5-0 lead.
The Vikings added two scores in the fifth and one more in the sixth to provide the final margin of eight.
Winning pitcher Jocelyn Hermiller struck out six Bulldogs and gave up just five hits in the shutout. She also doubled and hit two singles to aid her own cause.
Marisa Hermiller added a double.
Bulldog freshman hurler Bassitt struck out eight. She also hit a single and a double.
Ada junior outfielder Raeya Finn smacked a single and beat out a bunt single. Freshman infielder Karley Wagner roped a double.
123 456 7 R H E
Ada 000 000 0 0 5 10
Leip 113 021 x 8 6 0
WP-J. Hermiller LP-Bassitt
2B-Bassitt (A), Wagner (A), M. Hermiller (L), J. Hermiller (L), Haselman (L)
Ada (2-5 NWC) visits backyard rival Allen East (9-9, 2-4 NWC) in a league makeup game next Monday, May 16.
