HOLMES TOWNSHIP (Crawford County Now) — Wynford’s bats have been quiet most of the season. Pounding out 18 hits in a win over county and league rival Buckeye Central, it’s safe to say they got loud at the right time.

With the 18-4 victory here Tuesday night the Lady Royals captured their second straight Division VI sectional championship.

“Finally, our bats are coming along, which is a repeat of last year. If we do that again, I’m OK,” Lady Royals head coach Chelsea Rice said. “I won’t be mad like I was the first half of the year.”

Last season Wynford got a dose of post-season momentum and made it to the regional semifinals, before a 3-2 loss in 9 innings to Gibsonburg.

The hosts put 5 runs on the board in the first and 9 in the second, batting through the order both times.

Addison Sebring had 4 hits, Rylee Robinson 3, and 5 others had 2 hits each.

Wynford (8-11) advances to a district semifinal in Shelby next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. against South Central, an 11-1 winner over Bucyrus.

“We know Buckeye. They’re hard. I don’t care what we did in the regular season. We know both pitchers (A.J. Jury and Maya Metzger) are good pitchers. But we’ve just got to hit,” Rice said.

The BC duo alternated pitching, but neither could stop Wynford.

“We’ve been in a slump all year. I’m glad that we’re finally hitting. We just kept hitting and that’s all I want the for the rest of the tournament.”

Robinson, a senior, recorded 10 strikeouts and no walks to get the win. She added a triple, a pair of singles and 3 RBI.

“Rylee will always be the ace in the circle. Honestly, at the end of this year — and I hope it’s a very long year — the team will miss her. Her pitching and her leadership, just her all-around softball skills,” Rice said.

Buckeye Central falls to 3-17, with regular season games at Carey and Seneca East to finish the year.

“They were making plays. Our pitchers weren’t spotting very well and when you do that against a good hitting team, they make you pay,” Todd Messmer.

Eight hitters got on base for Wynford.

“You can’t get in a deficit like that because they make you pay. Our bats started waking up there at the end, but it was a little too late. No matter when we get down, this team will battle back.”

Erin Wolfe was moved to designated hitter, and she responded with a pair of hits and 2 RBI.

“We did that because she’s been so hot with the bat the last 3 games.

“I told them Rylee will pitch, Lily (Laipply) will make plays (at shortstop), Briley (Hildreth) will catch balls in the outfield. We just have to hit. We had to get the bats tonight and we need that through the tournaments,” Rice said.

“I’ll take the losses as the coach. The wins are all theirs, truly theirs.”

Next up is South Central.

“I don’t care who we play and as long as we hit, we’ll be fine in the tournament,” she said.

The Buckettes have had a rough season.

“It’s been a combination of a lack of hitting at times and a lack of pitching at other times. When we put it together like we did against Seneca East (a 5-4 win) the other night and good things happen,” Messmer said.

Buckeye loses 6 seniors in Jury, Leah Fields, Cierra Schneider, Olivia Bishop, Savannah Pace and Metzger.

“They gave everything to this program. I had them all for 4 years. They show up and they lead. I’m going to miss them, that’s for sure.”

Fields banged out 3 hits and Sophie West and Rafferty two apiece.

Box score

Buckeye Central   002 02X X        4        9        4

Wynford                 594 0XX X      18      18       2

WP: Rylee Robinson (10 SO, 0 W)

LP: A.J. Jury (0 SO, 2 W)

HR: None.

Triples: (W) Rylee Robinson.

Doubles: (BC) A.J. Jury; (W) Lily Laipply, Erin Wolfe, Addison Sebring, Ellie Nash.

Multiple hits: (BC) Leah Fields 3, Sophie West, Phoebe Rafferty; (W) Addison Sebring 4, Rylee Robinson 3, Kate McGuire, Briley Hildreth, Alivia Ritzler, Ellie Nash, Erin Wolfe.

Records: Buckeye Central 3-17; Wynford 8-11.

Next: Buckeye Central at Seneca East, Wednesday; Tiffin Calvert at Wynford, Wednesday.