Winning the inning

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians annihilated their opponent in the season opener, holding over a 10-run lead after the first inning.

In the home opener, the Tribe proved it can win a close game as well, providing an answer for every punch the Roughriders threw.

A sixth-inning rally gave the Fort Recovery High School softball team just enough breathing room to beat the Memorial Roughriders 6-5 on Thursday’s home opener at LeFevre Family Field.

Fort Recovery’s first game of 2025 ended up as a 30-2 rout of Franklin Monroe in four innings on March 22. 

“Super proud of the girls, that was a hard fought battle,” said FRHS coach Carrie Schoen. “It’s always a hard fought battle with Saint Marys. … For Jenna to throw the way she did right at the end of the game, she threw great the whole game, but to really come through at the end, for the defense to just hang tight and then to have that inning towards the end to open up where we got three runs was huge.”

The Indians (3-0) held a 3-1 advantage before an Adyson Van De Keere and an Ava Klosterman blast to deep left field tied the game in the sixth inning.

Homan quickly made up for it with her bat, starting the sixth-inning rally with an infield single to the left side. Ella Schoen and Kylie Post followed with a single and a walk to load the bases.

    Fort Recovery High School first baseman Alexis Grisez comes down with the second-to-last out behind the bag during the softball team’s 6-5 victory over Memorial on Thursday. Grisez also drove in the go-ahead run as part of the sixth inning rally. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

Alexis Grisez broke the tie with a chopper to third base that allowed Homan to score despite Kailey Smith’s attempt to get her out at home.

“Obviously I let the home run get through, so I had to do my best to get back what I lost,” Homan said. “I always go into an at bat having a good mindset, knowing that I’m going to hit the ball."

Two more runs came in on a Kayla Heitkamp single to the left side and a Van De Keere wild pitch put the Tribe up 6-3.

The Roughriders (0-2) didn’t go down easy in the seventh. Calianna Bond-Awls led off with a blooper to shallow center field before Homan struck out Ryleigh Berg. They scored their first run of the inning after Hirschfeld’s single got past Kylia Dues in left field. The second run came during the next at bat as Hirschfeld scored on a passed ball.

While the Indians’ young defenders struggled with errors on the day — they finished with five — they came through at the end.

The second out came when Alexis Grisez, a sophomore, ranged back behind the bag at first base to catch a short fly ball in the rain. Homan walked Van De Keere before intentionally walking Klosterman to put the tying run on second and the winning run on first. On the first pitch, Ayden Young sent a groundball to freshman second baseman Layla Armstrong who put the game away with a throw to first.

“Even though we had the errors that we had, the fact that we could finish the way we did was huge,” Schoen said. “That speaks volumes for these kids. Hopefully it shows them that they can do it and shows them that they’ve got to be gritty and work for every out.”

Homan piched all seven innings, striking out eight batters and giving up three earned runs on five hits and five walks.

Memorial got on the board first after Cadence Hirschfeld opened with a single, got moved to second, stole third base and scored on a throwing error.

The Indians (2-0) wasted no time with a response.

Ava Grisez grinded through the second at bat in the bottom of the first inning. She forced Van De Keere to throw seven pitches before poking the eighth through the left side of the infield for a single and advancing to second on an error by Taylor Meyer in left field. 

Jenna Homan followed by attacking the first pitch for an RBI single to the right side. Homan advanced to third on a throw to home plate that got away from Young and scored on Post’s single.

After winning the first inning 2-1, both teams were quiet in the second before Ava Grisez manufactured another run in the third. This time the senior got down 0-2 in the count before smacking a single to center. She stole second base with ease and had to wait to advance to third until shortstop Hirschfeld fielded the ball and threw it to first. Klosterman tried to turn a double play by getting Ava Grisez out at third, but threw the ball away allowing the Indian to score.

“I was just trying to be as aggressive as I can because I knew they would be a tough team to beat,” Ava Grisez said. “Those things were really big to keep the momentum up and stay up the whole game.”

Fort Recovery 13, Bradford 3

A four-run first inning put the Tribe in position for a 13-3 win against the Bradford Railroaders on Friday.

FRHS got going right away, starting with back-to-back singles from Ava Grisez and Homan. Ava Grisez scored off an error by catcher Caitlynn Shroyer to put the Indians on the board.

Schoen then drew a walk before Post knocked both runners in with a double to left field. A pair of passed balls allowed Post to score to cap off the inning.

Fort Recovery scored three more unanswered runs against the Railroaders (1-3). 

The first run came in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Schoen. The other runs came in the fourth on an Emma Will single and a Homan double.

A trio of singles finally got Bradford on the board in the top of the fifth, but the Indians answered in the form of an Armstrong single in the bottom half.

A dropped third strike aided BHS, which scored two more runs in the sixth on a Hayven Evans single and a fielder’s choice.

A five-run sixth inning ended the game via mercy rule. The final five runs were driven in by a Post groundout, a Heitkamp home run and an Armstrong single.

Homan went the distance in the circle, striking out seven batters, while only giving up five hits and the two earned runs.