Wauseon pitcher Ella Hageman fires one during Saturday’s Division II district final versus Oak Harbor. The Indians fell 10-3 to the Rockets, ending their season.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
Olivia Gigax of Wauseon drives in Aubrianna Everly to tie Oak Harbor at 1-1 in the top of the second inning during Saturday’s district final.
Max Householder | AIM Media Midwest
GENOA — In a rematch of the 2021 district final, this time it was Oak Harbor coming out on top of Wauseon in a 10-3 victory for the Rockets Saturday at Genoa in Division II softball action.
The higher-seeded Rockets slammed the door on the Indians with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning.
Oak Harbor struck first in their half of the first. Reagan Schultz reached second base to lead off the inning when her shot to right field was dropped. She later came around to score on Porter Gregory’s groundball out.
However, it took Wauseon just two batters to tie it up. First, Aubrianna Everly smacked a ball off the top of the fence in left, then Olivia Gigax’s single scored Everly.
The Indians would get no more runs though as Schultz, Oak Harbor’s pitcher, got Ava Kovar to groundout and struck out both Grace Calvin and Ella Hageman.
Wauseon had some more problems on defense in the bottom of the second and Oak Harbor took advantage. With a runner on base, Sydney Overmyer’s knock to right field was dropped, plating another run for a 2-1 Rocket lead. Then Alyse Sorg drilled one to deep center to make it 3-1.
The Rockets got it to 4-1 in the third thanks to Hannah Schimmoeller’s home run to left center field.
Porter Gregory started the bottom of the fifth with a home run to left center as well. Schimmoeller and Emily Sommers followed with base hits, and a Reese Adkins sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position.
A sacrifice fly brought home Schimmoeller, then Sorg and Overmyer recorded RBI single and increased the Oak Harbor lead to 8-1.
The Indians scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Oak Harbor plated two themselves in the home half of the sixth.
Wauseon had a flare for the dramatic in their district semifinal win over Port Clinton Thursday. Trailing 4-2 heading into their final at bat, the Indians scored two runs with two out to send the game to extra innings.
They went on to win the contest in eight innings, 6-4, by way of a Gigax two-run home run. But on Saturday in the district final the day belonged to Oak Harbor.
Wauseon, who during the season finished in a three-way tie for the Northwest Ohio Athletic League title, ends the 2022 campaign with a 14-7 record.
Reach Max Householder at 419-335-2010.
