Tipp softball stunned in district semis

The OHSAA postseason softball tournament saw a second-round shocker last week, and it involved the Tippecanoe Red Devils.

Tipp, who came into the Division Three sectional tournament as the #2 overall seed behind Greenville, was stunned in their second round tournament game, falling to Piqua 7-6 in the district semifinals.

“It was a good year that ended too soon,” Tipp coach Charles Tackett said. “This team helped bring some excitement to the community. Bottom line is you can’t take anything for granted and you have to take care of the ball.”

The Red Devils fell behind 4-0 early and could never get the lead, closing their deficit to one run late, which is how the game ended.

It was the third time they had met this season, with Tipp pitching shutouts in the previous two victories. But this time, the Indians struck first.

In the second inning, the Indians broke the scoreless tie with a run to begin the scoring. Sam   Clark led off the inning with a single, then Ella Snyder reached on an error, moving Clark to second. Two outs later, Raylie Sterling coaxed a walk to load the bases and Clark stole home to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Starting pitcher Ella Henn got out of the inning without any more damage as she got Audrey Applegate to pop out to Kyla Fry at third, and Tipp only trailed by the single run.

Things got a bit more interesting in the third as Taylan Swartz reached on an error and one batter later, Edison State basketball signee Aubrey Bean launched a two-run home run to left to give Piqua a 3-0 lead.

They weren’t done in the inning as Rachel Price singled to score Clark, who had reached, and the Red Devils found themselves down 4-0.

Finally in the third, Tipp broke through. Abby Chaney singled in Aubrey Davis with the first run of the game for Tipp, then Emily Aselage drove a single to center to bring home Gracie Raiff with the second run of the game for the Red Devils.

Leading 4-2 in the fourth, Piqua went back to work. Jaina Drum was in relief of Henn and walked Applegate to lead off the inning, and two outs later, Bean doubled in the runner to push the Piqua lead to 5-2.

Tipp continued to battle, closing the gap in the fourth when Roo Snell singled to bring home Jocelyn Shelton, but again, Piqua answered. Sterling brought home two runners with a double in the fifth to push the Piqua lead back out to 7-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, Chaney and Aselage singled to lead off the inning and a walk to Fry loaded the bases with nobody out. Shelton grounded out to bring home Chaney, then Drum scored a run with a ground out and Snell struck again with an RBI single and the game was a 7-6 margin. Tipp left the bases loaded in that inning.

Tipp left the tying run at third in the sixth before being retired in order in the seventh, closing out the season.