The Hornets knocked Franklin out of first place in the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division and surged toward their first league crown since 2006 with a 13-10 triumph at Franklin Community Park.
“It was incredible,” said Monroe sophomore shortstop Alexis Arnold, who doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs. “I’ve been waiting so long, before even my freshman year, to beat them.
“We’re not like we were five years ago. We’re someone to think twice about. If you get too cocky, we’ll beat you.”
Shelby Horne, the only senior on either roster, doubled and plated three runs for the Hornets. Sam Key added two RBIs.
Monroe improved to 15-4 overall and 9-1 in the SWBL with its 10th consecutive win. The Wildcats finished 10-2 in the league (they’re 12-8-1 overall).
The Hornets have two SWBL games remaining, at Bellbrook on Wednesday and at home against Oakwood on Thursday.
“It’s back to business tomorrow, but let’s enjoy this one today,” Monroe coach Tim Kellis said. “I told the umpire, I think in the middle of the fifth inning, that this is what a championship game’s supposed to be.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to get in the top three of this league. We haven’t won the championship yet, but we told our kids to be the champion, you’ve got to beat the champion. Franklin’s got a great program. They just reload year after year.
“This is a great feeling. It’s great for the community. Our baseball team has been so successful, we’re just trying to keep up with them.”
The Wildcats piled up 19 hits against winning pitcher Jill Taylor (who threw 5.1 innings) and Tarin Yalich. The hosts also stranded 10 runners and committed six errors.
“I know we’re better than that,” said Franklin coach Jim Miller, whose squad was gunning for its third straight Southwestern crown. “If you can’t field it, you can’t win. And yet we still had a chance. You’ve got to be able to step up and get a big hit, and we didn’t do it.”
The errors were painful, leading to six unearned runs for the Hornets. Miller said the Wildcats had to do some defensive maneuvering with catcher Tara Johnson sidelined by a finger injury.
“We’ve been solid defensively all year long,” Miller said. “We were playing a little bit out of position today, but that’s no excuse. Apparently I didn’t have them ready to play. We had an awesome warmup. We hit well in pregame. Maybe I should’ve focused a little more on defense.
“We started almost every inning by giving them a runner on second base. That’s a hard thing to overcome.”
Patton Akers (four hits, double, three RBIs), Carlee Russell (three hits, home run, RBI), losing pitcher Emily Temple (four hits, double), Lacey Wilch (three hits), Katie Wolsefer (two hits, double, RBI) and Shelby Raby (two RBIs) were Franklin’s top hitters. Mikayla Abner had a double and Haley Adams drove in a run.
Taylor notched an RBI for Monroe while allowing 15 hits and nine runs (seven earned) in the circle.
Ashley McNabb was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and Faith Hensley was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Hornets. Kellis said those two freshman outfielders have been vital to the team’s success.
“We knew coming into the season that we were going to score runs. We did that last year,” Kellis said. “We just had to shore up our defense, and those two freshmen have made a huge difference because of their speed and athleticism and what they can do at the plate.”
Monroe was a 3-0 loser to the Wildcats last month and had to endure some nervous moments in the rematch. The Hornets jumped to a 6-0 lead and never trailed, but Franklin tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Russell launched a one-out solo homer to make it 13-10, and Wilch and Temple followed with a single and a double, respectively. Yalich then retired Akers and Adams on pop-ups to end the game.
“It was very nerve-wracking,” Arnold said. “We just had to keep doing what we were doing. It was a no-brainer that we were going to hit. We just had to keep our confidence up and not let our heads down on defense.”
And when it was all over?
“Victory,” Arnold said with a smile. “Amazing.”
Miller credited Monroe for its offensive consistency — “They just didn’t stop,” he said — and he isn’t holding out much hope that the Hornets will lose either of their last two league games.
“Congratulations to them,” Miller said. “We’ll look at it as they’re borrowing the trophy for one year. Hopefully we’ll get it back next year.”
“Our players have done a great job, and we’ve got three assistant coaches that have worked their tails off,” Kellis said. “Four years ago, they won five games. Two years ago, eight. Last year, 14. And this is win No. 15 this year. So we’re climbing the ladder. If we can get the league, our next goal will be a sectional title. They haven’t won one since 2008.”
These teams appear headed for Round 3 in the tournament. The Wildcats are seeded first and Monroe third in the Division II Dayton sectional, and one win apiece will send them into a sectional-final showdown May 19 at Waynesville.
“I hope the girls want to play them again,” Miller said. “We’ll take our chances that something good will happen for us in the tournament.”
Arnold said the Hornets would welcome the opportunity to play Franklin again.
“That’s fine,” she said. “Perfectly fine.”
The Wildcats will travel to Milton-Union on Wednesday, while Monroe keeps its focus on league play.
The Hornets hammered Bellbrook (15-6) and Oakwood (29-2) last month.
“We’ve got to keep their heads on,” Kellis said. “We went to Bellbrook last year with a chance to play in the sectional finals, committed five or six errors and got beat 21-9. They’ll be reminded of that as soon as we get on the bus (Wednesday).”
Monroe 240-221-2—13-12-1
Franklin 005-103-1—10-19-6
WP — Jill Taylor (8-1); LP — Emily Temple (8-5); HR — F: Carlee Russell. Records: M 15-4, 9-1 SWBL Southwestern; F 12-8-1, 10-2 SWBL Southwestern.
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