Panthers pounce on Indians

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WAPAKONETA, Ohio — The Indians had to get by a familiar foe if they wanted to get their 10th win of the season.



It would have been the first time having double-digit wins since 2011.



The Tribe wasn’t able to get that elusive victory, and the result was all-too familiar.



Fort Recovery High School’s softball team had its season come to a close on Wednesday in the Division IV Wapakoneta District semifinal with a 13-0 loss to the Parkway Panthers.



“Our girls didn’t show up to play ball today, obviously,” said FRHS coach EJ Stephen, whose team ends the year 9-13 and has more victories this season than each of the last five years combined. “(Parkway) had some really good hits that nobody could have fielded, but they had some that the defense should have been on top of but they just kind of watched them go by.”



Parkway, the No. 2 seed in the district, advances to the final at 5 p.m. Friday against top-seeded Minster, which scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 4-3 walk-off victory over Midwest Athletic Conference rival New Bremen in the first semifinal.



To top the Wildcats in the all-MAC final, the Panthers (20-4) will have to hit as well as they did against the Indians.



“We stung the ball,” said Parkway coach Mark Esselstein, whose team collected 15 hits, including five triples and two doubles. “Picked out good pitches to hit, didn’t chase.



“(Fort Recovery pitcher Olivia) Homan doesn’t usually walk very many so it was big that we took advantage of some walks early on.”



Homan allowed two walks to start the home half of the first inning, and Bailey Strickler followed with an RBI single. The next batter Haley Hawk hit an RBI single as well, and in the process set the OHSAA record for RBIs in a career with 208.



Later in the inning, McKenna Temple hit a two-run single to make it 4-0 Parkway.



“It’s always good for a team’s confidence to get a lead at the beginning,” Esselstein said. “We’re playing good defense now. Our pitching has gotten better as the year’s gone on. If we get (a lead) we’re probably going to keep on hitting.”



And boy, did they ever.



Bailey Bates led off the third inning with a triple to center field, and after a fielder’s choice Alyssa Miller and Templeton hit back-to-back triples. Then, Macy Hinkle hit the second of her two triples and by then Parkway was out front 7-0.



A double, triple and three straight singles in the fourth inning aided the Panthers in tacking on six more runs, two of which came on two-out error that would have ended the frame with the score 9-0. Instead, the error made it 11-0 and Strickler hit a two-run single pushed the score to 13-0.



A handful of Parkway’s shots to the outfield found gaps, but on others the ball was just out of reach or Tribe defenders took bad routes trying to field the ball.



“It’s very frustrating knowing this team can do it,” she said. “They’ve done it. They came into this game thinking ‘It’s Parkway, we’re probably not going to make it happen.’”



To make matters worse, Fort Recovery’s offense had trouble getting a hit off Hawk. The senior retired the first five batters she faced, including three strikeouts, and didn’t’ allow a hit until there was one out in the fourth inning when Bailee Tebbe singled up the middle.



Taylor Grisez walked in the second inning and got hit by a pitch in the fifth before being tagged out on a double play. No FRHS base runner reached second.



Defeat aside, the Indians have plenty to build upon for the future. Taylor Thien and Grisez played in their final game for Fort Recovery, and matching the win total from the last five years leaves hope for the future.



“We just need some leaders to step up,” Stephen said. “Next season is going to look promising … We only lose two seniors so we’re only going to build from here.”