Badin erases early deficit, beats Brookville for D-III sectional title

An early jolt gave Badin High School’s softball team something to think about Monday, and the Rams thought quickly.

Staring at a 3-0 deficit before its first at-bat, top-seeded Badin rebounded for a 4-3 lead after two innings and went on to defeat Brookville 6-3 in a Division III sectional final at Xenia.

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“We’ve been there many times, especially last year,” said senior first baseman Sam Sander, who went 3-for-3 in the 7-hole. “We’re really pretty good at getting back up.

“I feel like everyone was up on the bus ride. We were like, ‘Yes, we can do this.’ We all had the energy. We all had the spirit for it. So I feel like we just powered through the first inning and got it.”

Nicole Rawlings pitched an eight-hitter, allowing just one hit through the last 11 batters she faced. And that batter, Bailey Pennington, was out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple in the fifth inning.

Badin improved to 25-2 with its third straight sectional championship. The Rams will travel to Kings on Friday to face Clermont Northeastern for a district title at 5 p.m.

“That’s a lot of wins over the last three or four years. I’m real happy for the program,” said Badin coach Greg Stitzel, whose team advanced to the regional semifinals in 2015 and 2016. “I feel real comfortable going back into the district finals with a chance of winning a third straight district.”

He was impressed with Brookville (9-10), the No. 6 seed. The Blue Devils got an RBI single from Kassidy Heck and then a two-run single by Madison Hamiel in the top of the first.

Rawlings wasn’t exactly a mystery to Brookville’s bats the rest of the way, but the Blue Devils couldn’t generate another run.

“We started out hot and just kind of fell off, and you can’t have that if you want to play a good team like Badin,” first-year Brookville coach Brittany Hunley said. “We looked solid all the way around, not too many errors. We had a couple base-running mistakes and a couple calls that didn’t go our way, and that’s the ballgame.

“I feel like we were confident. All my girls had a scouting report, and we were confident in where their hitters would go. Badin was very consistent with what we’ve seen and what we’ve been told.”

Heck and Erin Gardner had two hits apiece for the Blue Devils. Shelby Schmitt singled twice and doubled for the Rams, who didn’t strike out all day against Brookville hurler Hope Hensley.

Rawlings, a junior lefty, struck out six and walked one. She got a visit from the trainer in the top of the fourth inning after pulling a back muscle.

“She was able to stay in. We pretty much had to abandon all of her pitches, though,” Stitzel said. “We had to go almost all straight fastballs just to keep her lined up instead of torquing and doing her other stuff.”

Sydney Rawlings (two hits, two RBIs), Gracie McHugh (two hits, RBI), Nicole Rawlings (two RBIs) and Maddie Curtner (RBI) were among the offensive leaders for Badin. The Rams marked at least one hit in every inning but the third.

“I’ve got to give our girls credit for fighting back without just getting down and saying it’s over,” Stitzel said. “Brookville’s an up-and-coming team. They’re scrappy. They’re going to make some noise in the next year or two.”

Pennington, a senior shortstop, is the only player the Blue Devils are losing to graduation.

“We finished the season strong and together, and I’m very proud of them,” Hunley said. “We have a lot of young girls. We’re excited for next year.”

Badin moves on to meet CNE, a team the Rams beat 9-1 early in the season. The winner of that game will play either Madison or Springfield Northwestern in the regional semifinals.

“We still have to play one game at a time,” Sander said. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves, and it’s costing us like in the first inning. We have to just stay with game by game.”

Brookville 300-000-0—3-8-1

Badin 130-020-x—6-12-2

WP — Nicole Rawlings (23-2); LP — Hope Hensley (2-2). Records: BR 9-10, BA 25-2

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