Benjamin Logan hit the ball well early, hit a mid-game lull, and fortunately found its offense again late to pull out a dramatic tournament win over Dayton Chaminade-Julienne on Thursday.
The second-seeded Raiders scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally for a 6-5 victory over the visiting Eagles in a Division II sectional semifinal softball game.
Ben Logan is now 20-8 on the season and advances to play Bellefontaine in the sectional final at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Urbana.
“We’ve had back-to-back games that we were down going into the seventh inning and found a way to get a win,” said Ben Logan coach John Stahl. “This is a young team, but they have really matured as the season has went on. I think we are playing our best softball of the season right now.”
Trailing 5-4 entering the last half of the seventh, the Raiders’ number-nine hitter Gretchen Wilber lined a triple into the right-field corner to put the tying run at third with no outs.
Sophomore Rhea Harner then followed with a triple of her own, which plated Wilber to make the score 5-5.
Jenn Naragon was then hit by a pitch and Jillian Plikerd walked to load the bases.
Brooks Meyers lined out to shortstop for the first out of the inning before Ryelle Gibson laid down a perfectly placed bunt along the first base line that allowed Harner to score with the winning run.
“We’ve hit the ball pretty well all season,” said Stahl. “We had some big hits early in the game and then their pitcher settled in pretty good. It was good to see the girls step up with some key hits in the seventh inning when we really needed them.”
The Eagles (20-7) scored twice in the top of the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
However, Ben Logan responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to knot the score at 2-2.
Harner led off the bottom of the first with an inside-the-park home run and another run later scored on a throwing error.
Ben Logan grabbed a 3-2 lead in the third on an RBI double by Plikerd.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lynzee Cronkleton tripled with one out and she then scored on an error to give the Raiders a 4-2 lead.
The Eagles grabbed the momentum in the top of the fifth, sending eight batters to the plate and collecting three runs for a 5-4 advantage.
The score stayed that way until Ben Logan was able to come up with its clutch 2-run seventh inning to grab the win.
Harner finished 3-4 with two RBI and Cronkleton was 3-3 to pace the Raiders’ offense.
Kyah Moore earned the win in the pitching circle for the Raiders. She came on in the fifth after four solid innings by Taylor Lafferty.
The Raiders now turn their attention to a rematch with Bellefontaine. The Chiefs beat Ben Logan 2-1 during the regular season.
“We have to score some runs,” said Stahl. “That has been our key all season. Bellefontaine has a good pitcher, so we have to hit the ball well and put some runs on the scoreboard.”
BEN LOGAN 6,
C-JULIENNE 5
Eagles 200 030 0 — 5 11 3
Raiders 201 100 2 — 6 9 0
WP—Moore; LP—Fugett.