DaytonDailyNews.com

HAMILTON — Lindsay Williams called it a perfect ending.

The Badin High School senior lined a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, March 31, as the Rams softball team christened its new Joyce Park complex with a victory.

Williams' first-pitch hit to center field ended a 6-5 triumph over Seton at Carl Schatt Field, helping the Rams (1-1) notch their first win of the season.

"I don't even know how to put it into words ... it feels so good," said Williams, Badin's center fielder. "It was so suspenseful, but we rode it out and ended up winning. It was just like, 'Wow.' "

Rebekah Fox tripled, singled, walked twice and drove in four runs for the Rams, while Williams, Kara Gerbus and winning pitcher Stacie Weber all had two hits.

Weber went the distance in the circle, collecting five strikeouts while scattering nine hits.

"We've been trying to get a field like this for so long," Williams said. "It's like we have our own little piece of something now. Hopefully it will help us get some respect."

It was a contest with a little bit of everything, including Emily Lindsey's solo home run in the top of the seventh that gave the Saints a 5-4 advantage.

Badin appeared to run itself out of the game in the bottom of the frame when two players were caught in rundowns between home plate and third base on the same play. Samantha Grebner was erased for out No. 2, but Whitney Mueller avoided being the final out and scored the tying run after an errant Seton throw.

In the bottom of the ninth, Lisa Ruhe and Fox started the Rams' winning surge with walks. Grebner put down a successful sacrifice bunt, Mueller reached base on a fielder's choice to load the bases, and Williams smacked a Sarah Hensley pitch well over the drawn-in outfield.

"Lindsay is a fly-ball hitter, so when I saw them pull their outfielders in, I was like, 'Sweet,' " Badin coach Greg Stitzel said. "I knew she could power the ball over their heads. The bunt was so important. That set us up for all that happened."

Mueller had a double and Ruhe scored twice for Badin. Catcher Lizzy Miles gunned down a Seton runner trying to steal third base in the seventh inning.

Ashley Schramm went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Saints (1-1), and Katie Ritter added three hits. Hensley threw a complete game in the losing effort, striking out six and allowing 10 hits.

"I thought it was a well-played game offensively and defensively," Seton coach Mary Agricola said. "It just came down to making a big hit at the right time."

The Rams return to action today, facing St. Ursula at Riverstar Park.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194

or rcassano@coxohio.com.

»View more photos from the game Journal-News.com

»Box score, B3