SPORTS

Granville one win from state tournament

Dave Weidig
Reporter
Granville softball will move onto the Division II regional finals Saturday after beating Springfield Northwestern in the regional semifinals Wednesday night. The final score was 8-1.

MASON – Granville took its show on the road Wednesday, nearly two hours away to be exact. But the Blue Aces are used to it.

"We like traveling. We love these bus trips," senior Abby Barker said after she pitched a three-hitter in Granville's impressive 8-1 Division II regional semifinal win against Springfield Northwestern at Mason High School.

Junior shortstop Shelby Sprouse provided Barker with more than enough runs with a pair of clutch two-out hits, as the Blue Aces (25-6) cruised into Saturday's noon regional championship against Thursday's Greenville-Hamilton Ross winner. Greenville finished first, just ahead of Lakewood, in the final state coaches' poll.

"We want to play them. We want to say we beat the number one team," Barker said. "This is the closest we've been as a team all year. We're loaded with freshmen, and they're getting into it."

Hitting the road is old hat for Granville. Coach Rae Stuart purposely scheduled visits to Lebanon and Keystone during the regular season to get the Blue Aces ready. But nothing got them more prepared than the Licking County League.

"The LCL doesn't get enough credit," Stuart said. "These teams aren't used to playing teams like Lakewood and Licking Valley. Heck, this team we beat today was ranked ahead of us."

The Blue Aces never looked back after Sprouse's two-out single scored Barker, who had doubled in the first. Freshman Rose Sawyers had a second-inning sacrifice fly, then Sprouse dropped the hammer with two outs when she launched a bases-loaded triple to left, capping a five-run inning and putting Granville in command 6-0.

"I'm usually kind of anxious up there, but it's a good adrenaline," Sprouse said. "I think it helps me get hits. We're stringing a lot of hits together right now. We're getting into a groove and we're really going strong."

Barker walked the leadoff hitter, then got locked in. She retired 12 consecutive batters, striking out seven, before yielding a leadoff hit in the fifth. But the Warriors (24-6) could never put a serious dent into the lead as right fielder Maddy Richardson made two nice running catches.

Freshman Abby Skerbetz later doubled in Richardson, who had a rare infield double when her popup bounced between a pair of Northwestern players. Granville then continued its recent home run binge when Sophia Ehlers, despite a stiff breeze blowing, hit a solo home run over the center field fence in the sixth.

"We're being a lot more patient at the plate," Barker said. "We're waiting on our pitches, and when we get them, we're hitting them."

Granville has proven to be a sturdy mix of upperclassmen and young players. On Wednesday, the Blue Aces started four freshmen, two sophomores, a junior and three seniors.

"They haven't played like freshmen all year, especially at the plate," Stuart said. "They've stepped up from the very beginning, because they had to.

"About the middle of the season, I started having a good feeling about this team. I'm not sure they felt it then, but now they're starting to believe."

dweidig@newarkadvocate.com.

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