Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — Audrey Cowdery is proof that when you put the ball in play, good things tend to happen.
Cowdery may not realize it, but she delivered the biggest moment of Circleville’s season on Wednesday by starting a sixth inning avalanche by laying down a perfect bunt that led to two runs.
Momentum completely swung at that point and Cowdery’s Tigers took full advantage by scoring four total runs in the frame. They never looked back, earning a 6-4 comeback victory over Hillsboro in a Division II district semifinal.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“Ally Thornsley was on third base and she’s such a competitor that her mentality is always, ‘You’re never going to beat me,'” Circleville coach Hayden Ellis said. “Laying down that bunt was huge by Audrey, and even though Ally got caught in a rundown, she won that battle and that was the spark we needed. We continued to put the ball in play, run the bases well and put pressure on Hillsboro’s defense. What an unbelievable win.”
The victory catapults Circleville into its first district final appearance since 2009.
“The girls are in such a good mindset and they believe so much in themselves, which is what we’ve tried to instill in them throughout the season,” Ellis said. “This team may be young, but there’s a standard they need to hold themselves to. As long as you believe in yourself and compete every single play, the rest will take care of itself. I’m just so happy for the girls.”
Circleville’s Gabby McConnell and Hillsboro’s Camryn Spruell spent the opening three innings keeping each other’s lineups on ice.
But McConnell took matters into her own hands in the fourth.
She saw a 1-2 pitch, swung, and sent a deep drive over the center field fence to put the Tigers ahead 1-0.
“There wasn’t too much I saw on that pitch. I knew that I had two strikes, so I was swinging at anything close,” McConnell said. “I competed and just hit whatever she gave me.”
Yet, Hillsboro had a response in the bottom half … what the Indians thought to be a backbreaker. After an intentional walk to Spruell and a walk to Chloe Roberts, Addi Huff stepped up and drilled an RBI double off the right field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
Hillsboro was just getting started, though.
A fielder’s choice scored Roberts, Huff scored on an RBI groundout from Reagan Clemons and, later in the inning, Halle Reveal logged an RBI single into right field, extending the lead to 4-1.
A scoreless fifth inning however, led to the fireworks in the sixth.
After Thornsley reached via an error, Claire Davis walked. It was then Cowdery’s turn to make magic happen.
She laid down a bunt and instead of the out at first, Hillsboro caught Thornsley in a rundown. After a couple back and forth throws, Thornsley fully committed to going home and the Indians committed a throwing error, allowing her to score.
On the same play, Davis sprinted home to score, cutting the lead to 4-3.
“I did not want to go back to third base, so I was determined to go,” Thornsley said. “After a couple of times, I told myself that I wasn’t doing the back-and-forth anymore and I didn’t see anyone covering the plate, so I went for it.”
After two outs were recorded, Circleville mounted another rally.
McConnell and Makaylee Holbrook notched back-to-back singles to extend the inning. That’s when Ella Michael came up with the biggest hit of the night — a two-run double off the center field wall to give them a 5-4 lead.
“My first two at-bats weren’t very good, but I knew that there were two outs so I had to get a hit,” Michael said. “She threw a ball that was left over the plate and I turned on it. I thought it was a home run at first, but luckily I kept running.”
Maddie Blakeman then gave Circleville extra insurance when she ripped an RBI single into left field, extending the lead to 6-4.
But they weren’t out of the woods just yet.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers committed an error and a fielder’s choice put another runner on base with one out. But McConnell held strong and fired two strikeouts to end the game, preserving her team’s spot in a district final.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Statistically, McConnell earned the win in a complete game outing, striking out seven hitters. She also went 3-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
Michael finished 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Blakeman was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Cowdery was 0-for-3 with an RBI.
For Hillsboro, Spruell struck out 15 batters in the loss. Huff finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and both Clemons and Reveal had an RBI each.
Circleville advances to a Division II district final at 6 p.m., Friday at Ohio University against. The Tigers will meet with Unioto, who knocked off Fairland to move on.
“I’ve been in this spot playing for a district final when I was at Teays Valley, and we were a No. 21 seed. So no one expected us to win,” Ellis said. “But we embraced the underdog role and competed with nothing to lose. That’s essentially the same as this team, and that’s how I expect us to play. Unioto beat us 10-8 earlier this season, so we get a second chance and we’ll make the most of it.”
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