Hornets run-rule Franklin, now alone atop SWBL Southwestern

There was no real pressure when Monroe High School senior Sarah Eschmeyer stepped to the plate for the second time in the bottom of the fifth inning Wednesday.

It was simply time to have a little fun on Senior Night.

“I thought, ‘Let’s do something with this. Let’s run-rule them,’ ” said Eschmeyer, who cracked a walkoff two-run single to complete the Hornets’ 10-0 triumph over visiting Franklin. “We’ve run-ruled everyone in our league, so we kept it going. To come out and do this to them, especially on Senior Night, it’s just mind-blowing.

“It was nice. It was great. I don’t have words. I do everything for the program. This is what we’re here for. The program is what builds us. The program is everything around here.”

Monroe tallied unearned runs in the third and fourth innings, then buried the Wildcats with an 8-spot in the fifth to move into first place in the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division softball race.

The Hornets are 20-1 overall and 10-0 in the league, while Franklin is 15-4, 10-1. Monroe must travel to Brookville on Thursday, then finish SWBL play on the Wildcats’ diamond Friday.

“We haven’t clinched anything yet,” Hornets coach Tim Kellis said. “We’ve still got to take care of business. It’s high school softball — anything can happen. But I was really proud of the kids. They stepped it up.”

Hunter Salyers tossed a three-hitter for Monroe, which took advantage of four walks and five errors by Franklin.

Faith Hensley had a double and two RBIs, Eschmeyer collected two hits, Ashley McNabb doubled, singled and drove in a run, and Sam Schwab and Jillian Taylor added RBIs for the winners.

“Franklin’s usually a pretty tough team, but we were pretty ready today,” said Salyers, a senior right-hander. “To run-rule them on Senior Night is even better.”

Wildcats coach Jim Miller said emotions got the better of his squad in a performance that included multiple outfield errors.

“Our little hashtag this year is ‘mudita,’ being a good teammate and selfless love and being overjoyed when somebody does good,” Miller said. “Instead of going out to our teammates and saying, ‘Hey, it’s OK, got you next time,’ we just kind of crumbled.

“Friday’s another day. If we play our game, I’ll take my chances. I can tell you that (Monroe) may think it, but that team is not 10 runs better than us. They can hit. I won’t take anything away from them. But we should’ve hit and we had chances and we hit balls hard, but we hit ’em right to somebody.”

Shelby Raby threw 4.1 innings for Franklin and allowed five hits and eight runs (three earned), and Chloe Miller finished. Harley Brooks provided some outstanding defense in center field.

“We actually managed the game exactly the way I wanted it to go, but we cracked when we made a couple errors,” said Jim Miller, noting that Raby’s pitching was a positive. “We had some young kids out there that were a little googly-eyed. I think we’ve overachieved so far this year, but we’re still in the race. We’ve got a game Friday, and we’re going to come out to play.”

The Wildcats got singles from Lacey Wilch, Haley Adams and Olivia Kelly against Salyers, who struck out one and walked one.

“Tonight before the game, we told her, ‘We’re sticking with you as long as we can. It’s Senior Night … it’s up to you,’ ” Kellis said. “She’s like, ‘OK, don’t worry about it. You ain’t taking me out.’ She came through like a champ. She really kept them off balance, got a lot of ground balls. You’ve got to tip your hat to that kid.”

Salyers doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but she’s 6-0 this season as the Hornets’ No. 2 pitcher behind freshman Alyssa Wagner. Salyers ended last season as the ace.

“I felt great out there,” she said. “I can spin it pretty well. I use all my pitches to get me out of innings.”

Said Eschmeyer, Monroe’s catcher, “Hunter knows how to put movement on the ball. She hits her spots. She’s a great pitcher, a great senior, a great friend.”

Eschmeyer and Salyers both said they got emotional during the postgame Senior Walk, which included fellow seniors Alexis Arnold, Sam Key, Dee Henry and Taylor.

“I wasn’t crying until then,” Salyers said. “I’m just going to miss them all so much when it’s over.”

“I’ve been trying to hold it in, but that last Senior Walk, that just got me,” Eschmeyer said. “Mentally, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it’s almost over.’ ”

Kellis said he borrowed the Senior Walk idea from Monroe baseball coach Bob Hunt. The seniors walk around the bases and meet with players from each class at each base, then greet the coaches at home plate and their parents in the pitching circle.

“I thought that was one of the neatest things I’ve ever seen,” Kellis said. “We started that four years ago with this senior class. The girls really like it. They think it’s kind of cool.”

He pointed out the Hornets are still unbeaten in Ohio. Their only loss came against Merritt Island (Fla.) on their spring trip to Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Kellis said the seniors were hoping to play Franklin on Senior Night.

“At the beginning of the year, we asked the seniors, ‘Who do you want on Senior Night?’ And unanimously they said, ‘We want Franklin,’ ” he said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t control the league schedule.’ Well, the league schedule comes out and we’re playing Franklin during our spring break, and we were going to Florida.

“So we ended up moving both of them back to the last week of the season, and it worked out good. We told ’em before the game, ‘You wanted ’em, you got ’em. They can clinch a share (of the league title) if they beat you. So you figure it out.’

“Anytime you beat a Jimmy Miller-coached team, you’ve beat somebody because they’re always well prepared. I guarantee you Friday they’re going to be ready.”

Franklin will host Carroll in a regular-season game Thursday. The eighth-seeded Wildcats begin Division I Dayton sectional play Monday at home against No. 21 Butler.

Monroe is the No. 1 seed in the D-II Dayton sectional. The Hornets will host either No. 5 Tippecanoe or No. 17 Meadowdale on Thursday, May 11.

Franklin 000-00—0-3-5

Monroe 001-18—10-6-0

WP — Hunter Salyers (6-0); LP — Shelby Raby (10-1). Records: F 15-4, 10-1 SWBL Southwestern; M 20-1, 10-0 SWBL Southwestern

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