Haas induced a ground out that shortstop Chandler Hoskins slickly fielded for the first out. Then Haas struck out Mason’s last hope swinging and the Vikings celebrated an 11-8 victory, the program’s first district title since 1994 and the fact that Mason’s disputed grand slam in the seventh didn’t matter.
“Back to freshman year we were in the same spot, but it did not go our way,” Haas said. “But this feeling here as a junior I’m just so happy and proud of my team. We just played amazing.”
The Vikings (22-4) collected 12 hits, including a three-run homer by starting pitcher Ryla Zehring, and played errorless defense. They take their all-around game to Mason at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a Division I regional semifinal against Lebanon. The Vikings beat Lebanon 3-2 on April 7.
“We have just grown so much from last year — our chemistry is so much better,” said Zehring, a sophomore. “We just all trust each other a lot. We all know we have skill, but being able to work together has really helped us.”
Beachler has a long history with the program, which now owns six district titles. He previously served as a varsity assistant for 23 years and was on staff in 1994. He later started and led the program at Sinclair Community College for nine years until the school stopped sponsoring athletics during the pandemic. He was a volunteer assistant for the Vikings in 2021 and is in his second year as head coach.
Experience told Beachler that as many runs as possible were important against the contact-hitting Comets.
“We just came out ready to play,” he said. “We made great defensive plays, we put the ball in play hard. They knew that we had to hit the ball.”
Haas homered twice for the third time this season. Her two-run no-doubter to left started a three-run first inning.
“I was jumping around the bases,” Haas said. “I was so happy. It was a great way to start the game, and the momentum, that’s very important in softball.”
Haas’ second homer in the third made the score 4-1. Two errors and singles by Zehring and Caitlin Combs helped make it 6-1. Then Zehring blasted a three-run shot in the fourth after Haas was intentionally walked with two outs and Izzy Kepple singled.
“I was just really happy because I’ve been so focused on pitching,” Zehring said. “Hits will come if they come. I’m focusing on pitching, and when it happened, it was just really cool to be able to do both.”
The lead felt safe. But it was a good thing in the sixth that Mikeala Holp bunted Haas in from third and the Comets let in another run with their fourth error to build the lead to 11-2.
A hard line drive hit Zehring in the right knee in the second inning, but she walked it off. But by the time the seventh rolled around she had dealt with several stressful situations as the Comets had collected eight hits and threatened to score almost every inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Comets opened with three straight singles, a walk and another single to cut the Vikings’ lead to 11-4. Then seventh-place hitter Jo Sander hit a ball to straight-away center where the outfield fence is funky. There are two fences that don’t meet. They overlap by several feet with room to walk between.
The ball might have disappeared, but then it was bouncing back into the field of play. The bases cleared, the Vikings threw the ball back in and Sander stood on third with a triple. Did the ball clear the first fence, hit the second fence and bounce back into the field? Or did the ball hit left of the first fence and bounce off like a ball normally does?
Mason argued that Sander’s hit cleared the first fence and was therefore a grand slam. Beachler argued it wasn’t. The three-man umpire crew wasn’t sure. They huddled for more than five minutes while Haas warmed up. They got consultation from a Hamilton official about the ground rules, which apparently weren’t discussed before the game. Then they ruled it a home run.
The scored was 11-8 and Beachler put Haas on the mound to finish the game and render the home run meaningless.
“I always am confident in Alley,” Zehring said. “She’s gonna finish the game.”
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