Entler's homer, defense, lead Lady Titans past Conotton Valley to Elite 8
Staff- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
GROVEPORT — Notre Dame's defense kept Conotton Valley off board and Kate Entler's round tripper proved to be the difference, as the Lady Titans posted a 3-1 win over the Lady Rockets on Wednesday in the Ohio Division VII regional semifinals.
The defensive effort was two fold. Pitcher Ava Rush kept the Lady Rocket batters off balance with her pitch selection and her defense backed her up with big plays.
“That’s what the game plan was really. Just throw strikes and let your defense work for you," said Notre Dame coach Shad Ford. "You know, if you can pump some by them, that’s a bonus.”
Rush pitched a complete game, surrendering just 3 hits and one run. The sophomore fanned just five batters, but her ability to mix up her pitches — as well as some key plays from her defense — kept the Lady Rockets off the board all day.
“They were aggressive. Pitching is all about keeping them off balance. If I give them a fastball, and they’re getting a piece of it, then in my mind, my immediate thought is to move to something else," said Rush, "These games do not go the way they do without my defense and I am very fortunate and very blessed.”
Some critical plays included Ava's sister, Bella, fielding a hard grounder at second, tagging the runner and making the throw to first to end the third. Then later in the fifth, Maddie Entler made a diving catch along the left field line to prevent a Conotton a chance at a base runner.
Rush even threw some praise to her sisters' defensive play.
“Bella made the double play to get the momentum going. She’s an absolute bulldog. It’s so funny, because some people think playing ball with your sister – it’s irritating and there’s fighting, but we’ve got nothing but love out there. I get so aggressive and into it when makes a play.”
And while the Notre Dame defense held the Lady Rockets in check, the offense did their part by generating 12 hits and getting key runs when it mattered.
The Notre Dame (23-3) offense was paced by three different batters notching three hits each. Maycee Ford went 3-of-4 with an RBI, Lyndsey Schaefer went 3-4 with a double, and Maddie Entler went a perfect 3-3 at the plate. Kate Entler homered and drove in two runs, Alayla Soard had a double, and Kennedy Lyon had a hit.
The Lady Titans took a early lead in the first starting with Maddie Entler drawing a walk. Then with one out, Kate Entler smashed a 1-1 pitch over the wall just to the right of the scoreboard in center to put the Lady Titans up 2-0.
Conottton Valley (26-5) answered in the bottom of second, as Maddison Kelley led off the inning by belting a homer to deep center to cut the Lady Titans' lead to just one.
Two batters later, the Lady Rockets got another baserunner when Mylie Galigher singled. But the runner would be stranded, as Ava Rush struck out her second batter of the inning.
From that point on, the Lady Rockets would generate just one more hit over the last five innings.
The Lady Titans added an insurance run in the fourth.
Maddie Entler singled to lead off the inning. Then Soard doubled to put runners on second and third with one out.
With two outs, Ford stepped in and drove a pitch back up the middle to score Entler and extend the lead to 3-1.
The Titans nearly blew the game wide open when Schaefer followed up with a liner in the gap between short and third. But Conotton shortstop Brooklyn Kelley made a diving catch for the final out and preserve the two-run deficit.
The Lady Rockets took that momentum off the big defensive play and nearly turned it into runs in the bottom of the frame.
Kelley drew a walk with one out. Then Deliliah Williams singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with an out.
But Ava Rush retired the next two batters in order, including a called third strike to end the threat.
Then in the seventh, things got a little interesting.
Ava Rush retired the lead off. Then two back-to-back fielding errors in the infield allowed the Lady Rockets to get runners on second and third with just one away.
Kennedy Lyon fielded a soft grounder by the next batter and made the out at first, forcing the runner on third to hold. Then Ava Rush got the final batter to pop out to Lyon in foul territory next to Conotton’s dugout to end the game.
"I mean it was $11 ticket price. So, you know, I think it was worth making it a little interesting," chuckled Ford. "We’ll clean that up I hope.”
Kelley took the loss for the Lady Rockets. The junior hurler went the distance, striking out a game-high eight batters while allowing just two walks and two earned runs.
The Lady Titans will now square off against the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings in the regional finals on Friday at 5 P.M. at Groveport Madison High School.
Notre Dame 200 100 0 = 3 12 2
Con. Valley 000 000 0 = 1 3 1
Ava Rush an Kate Entler. Maddison Kelley and Delilah Williams. W–Rush (IP-7.0, H-3, R-1, ER-1, K-5, BB-2, HBP-1). L–Kelley (IP-7.0, H-11, R-3, ER-2, K-8, BB-2, HBP-1). Hitting–Notre Dame: Maddie Entler 3-3, Alayla Soard 1-3 2B, Kate Entler 1-3 2-RBI HR, Maycee Ford 3-4 RBI, Lyndsey Schaefer 3-4 2B, Kennedy Lyon 1-3; Conotton Valley: Maddison Kelley 1-1 RBI HR, Delilah Williams 1-3, Mylie Galigher 1-3.
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