League champs

By COLIN FOSTER
cfoster@dailystandard.com

WAPAKONETA - Celina beat rival St. Marys on Senior Day Monday.

Not even that win, however, could rival how they felt Wednesday.

Emily Keith, Gracie Chilcoat and Taylor Turner all had run-producing hits, Maddy Luebke pitched five innings of no-hit softball - and the Bulldogs claimed a share of their first WBL championship since 2012 with a 4-1 victory over Wapakoneta.

"This is huge for our girls in our program," said Celina coach Nicole Driggs after her team secured a title split with Defiance. "This is what you shoot for in the league. I don't like the fact that we have to share it, but you know what? It's still a WBL championship."

Winning a trophy is never easy. And Wapakoneta sure did make Celina work for its title-clinching victory.

The game was tied at 1-all when Celina came up to bat in the sixth inning. After Turner opened the inning with a walk, her courtesy runner, Haley Kirk, went to second on a Sydney Lehman grounder back to the pitcher. Kirk soon scored the go-ahead run when Chilcoat ripped a line-drive single up the middle on a two-strike count.

An inning later, Turner provided a little insurance.

Maddie Kuehne hit a two-out single and Luebke was intentionally walked, setting the stage for Turner to hit a two-run double that extended Celina's lead to 4-1.

"I was nervous with a one-run lead going into the seventh, but the insurance really felt good for all of us," Driggs said. "Our bats finally opened up. It happened late, but they opened up and it felt really good. Our girls were able to do what they do best."

Keith put Celina up in the third with an RBI triple, which scored Harlee Harris after a bunt single.

The Redskins tied the score when it was their turn in the third. Keith issued a leadoff walk to Addy Allen, who stole second and scored on a double to the gap by Alex Daum. Luebke came on in relief and prevented further damage by getting a groundout, a pop out and a strikeout with two Wapak runners in scoring position.

Luebke threw 55 of her 88 pitches for strikes. She tallied six strikeouts - including three in a row with a baserunner aboard in the sixth - and just two walks.

"She started slowing down a little bit," Driggs said of Luebke. "She had been struggling with going high and low … But she has a lot of pitches she can throw out there. That's really a nice weapon to have. She's a natural athlete out there, a three-sport (athlete). And they obviously respect her hitting. They (intentionally walked) her to put her on (for Turner). I was really proud of her out there. She's really starting to come into her own right now with the pitching. I know we have a combo with her and Em, and they've always done this: one likes to open, one likes to close. It works well."

The seniors - Luebke, Keith and Kuehne - have one last game remaining at Jim Hoess Field on Friday when Shawnee visits in a No. 3 vs. No. 5 matchup to start Division II tournament play.

They'll be focused on that, but the championship feeling won't go away soon.

"(A WBL title) was our goal from the beginning, and we even said that on Senior Night," Driggs said. "We started pressing because we've been sitting so much. With the rain, it's like 'Come on already. Let's get this league under our belts.' But our goal on Senior Night against St. Marys on Monday was to get that one and to get this one for these girls. It's a great way to go out. It's a special trio (of seniors) that we've got right here that are near and dear to our heart."