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Minster's Reece Albers (11) waits for the ball while Parkway's Hadley Stover starts her slide on a steal attempt during Wednesday's Division VI district softball semifinal at Wapakoneta High School.
WAPAKONETA - A delay in the action did not stop Wednesday's softball district semifinal between Minster and Parkway from living up to the hype. After play was stopped Tuesday due to rain, the Wildcats scratched across the only run of the game and took down the Panthers 1-0 in a duel in the circle.
"That was a great game," said Minster coach Kenleigh Ludlow. "Parkway is a great team and it was a battle during the regular season (a 14-13 Minster win), and we knew it would be a battle today."
Minster will face the winner of Columbus Grove and Allen East next in the district final on Friday in Bath. For Parkway, the season ends at a 20-4 mark overall.
"It was a tough one," said Parkway coach Trey Stover. "We battled through some tough situations and never gave up. We were in it until the last pitch."
After Caroline Knapke closed Tuesday's effort with a double in the top of the third, Whitney Trego got the action going again with a sac-bunt that put the runner on third. Three pitches later, it was Reece Albers' ground ball to first that brought Knapke home and gave the Wildcats the lead.
Brianna Osterloh struck out 14 Parkway batters in pitching a two-hitter in a 1-0 win over the Panthers in the Division VI district semifinal at Wapakoneta.
For the rest of the game, it came down to the pitching. Minster's Brianna Osterloh and Parkway's Bryn Schoenleben battled for the rest of the day as the bats made more contact with air than the ball.
"Bryn's been a staple in our team for the last four years. I just told her in the huddle that she saved the best game of her life for today. She did everything we asked and she gave us every opportunity to win," coach Stover said.
The Panthers' first hit came in the bottom of the third on Hadley Stover's single that did not leave the infield. She stole second to move into scoring position, but Osterloh worked out of the jam to keep the Wildcats in front.
Parkway's Bryn Schoenleben reacts after hitting a double against Minster.
Schoenleben did her part and picked up four strikeouts over the next two innings. Osterloh used three swings-and-misses to get through the fourth and the fifth, and the Minster righty got her 10th strikeout to lead off the home half of the fifth.
Brittyn Bruns gave Parkway another chance to score when she took four straight pitches outside to reach first. Another successful steal got her to second, but back-to-back strikeouts gave the black and orange another reason to cheer.
Schoenleben added three more strikeouts to her total in the seventh and it was all up to the bats. Parkway's pitcher looked to help her cause when she roped a double to right field to leadoff the inning.
KJae Stover nearly saw her liner get past first base, but good reflexes from Lucy Schmiesing gave Minster its first out. Savada Triplett went down swinging and it was all up to Kylie Younker with the tying run on second.
Three pitches later, the Minster dugout erupted. Osterloh picked up her 14th and final strikeout to end the game, and the Panthers were left 120 feet away from a tie game.
"She's worked really hard to perfect her craft and it's showing," Ludlow said of her pitcher. "Her confidence grows more and more every game. Her and (catcher Sophie Homan) work well together, and our staff works well with them to make a plan and execute it. So it is easy to be calm with her out there because whatever emotion she's feeling, we don't really see it, unless it is a smile."
Schoenleben will be credited the loss, but her 10 strikeouts and no walks gave Parkway every chance to win on the day. She finished with one of the two Parkway hits, with Hadley Stover added the second.
