Lancaster cruises to 18th straight win and is heading back to the final four
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LEWIS CENTER – The beat goes on for the Lancaster softball team.
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Starting the season with a 5-6 record, the Lady Gales never wavered in their belief in one another, stayed connected, and it paid off in a big way to the tune of 17 consecutive victories heading into the Division I regional championship game against Grove City on Friday, May 29.
Their 18th consecutive win by the Lady Gales was the most impressive one because they overpowered the Greyhounds by pounding out 17 hits and cruised to a 14-5 victory to send them back to the state tournament for the second straight year.
The Lady Gales (23-7) will play in the state semifinal at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, against the Massillon Jackson-Austintown-Finch winner at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. The state final is June 4 at 3 p.m.
Senior catcher Kendall Brown led the way with three home runs and five RBIs.
She received plenty of help from her teammates, including senior shortstop Hailey Rings, who had a stellar game defensively. She helped blow the game open early, with the Gales leading 4-2 in the third inning. Rings hit a three-run home run, her first of the season, to push the lead to 7-2, and the Gales never looked back.
Rings finished with three hits and scored three runs, Kileigh Rohr had three hits and two RBIs, and Alleigh Chevalier also had three hits and two RBIs, while Jo Jo Sheets and Alieya Garner finished with two hits each.
“We lost a great group of seniors last year, and they paved the way, but all year, we’ve had these ' Why not us?' bracelets on, and in big moments, our main thing is why not us? We have so many components on this team, and everyone can step up on any given day. We just keep believing in each other. We have gained so much momentum, and we just trust each other so much as a group.”
Brown has now hit 16 home runs, has 45 RBIs, and 56 hits, and leads the Gales with a .636 batting average.
“My first one, I was still upset about my first at-bat, so I just wanted to go up and swing the bat hard and it went well, the second one, batting after a home run, is one of the hardest things to do, because there is pressure to do it again, and the third one, I was surprised I was still getting pitched to, so honestly, it was let’s make them pay.”
Lancaster scored runs in every inning, and after they took an 8-2 lead in the third, they kept building, scoring a run in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two more in the sixth inning.
“This team is selfless, they want to win, and they were going to do whatever they could to get back to Akron, and to have a chance at winning a state championship, they are going to do that,” Lancaster coach Allie Kinniard said. “This group complements each other in so many ways, and team chemistry is what sets us apart. They spend a lot of time together on and off the field.”
Senior Kileigh Rohr started in the circle and was relieved by sophomore Mackenzie Hedrick, who pitched five-plus innings.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at [email protected] for comments or story tips. Follow him on X at twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Led by Brown's three HRs, Lancaster punches ticket to the final four