SHELBY (Crawford County Now) — Buckeye Central is the No. 1 seed in the Shelby district.
The Buckettes did nothing to tarnish that lofty seed in the opening game of the district tournament.
Grace Collene struck out 10, walked one, and allowed only one hit, as Buckeye Central eliminated Bucyrus, 11-1, in their Division VI district semifinal at Shelby High School.
The Buckettes will play for a district championship against Wynford, a 19-0 winner over New London in the second game, on Thursday back at Shelby.
BC coach Todd Messmer said his seniors set the tone. Collene had two hits including a home run to go with her stellar pitching and catcher Zoey Hoskins collected three hits with two triples.
“They stepped up and showed great leadership,” Messmer said. “Before we started the game tonight, I could see the look in their eye. They came to play.”
Messmer was wary of the upstart Lady Red even though the Buckettes swept them during Northern 10 Athletic Conference play. Despite their record, Bucyrus (5-21) had knocked off league foe Colonel Crawford to reach the district tournament.
“Definitely, we exceeded our expectations from the league,” Bucyrus coach Mike Middleton said. “Going into it, we wanted to compete for a sectional. We got that goal, so that’s great. I think we exceeded expectations. We made it this far. Nobody had us this far.”
After a scoreless first inning, it was all Buckeye Central (17-5). Hoskins opened with her first triple and Aleyse Siefert promptly singled her home. Leah Fields followed with a single and, one out later, Olivia Bishop walked. Aleyse Siefert scored on younger sister Megan Siefert’s ground out.
The Buckettes put the game away, for all intents and purposes, with a four-run third. Collene got things going with her towering home run to left field to lead off the frame. BC went on to collect five hits in the inning, including a triple by Savannah Pace, to plate the four runs.
“I told the girls this is a new season, and we start 0-0,” Messmer said. “The N10 is a tough league. Anything can happen. All the teams, when it comes to tournament time, are on the same level. We’ve got to do our thing and play our game and we’ll be fine.”
Lady Red got their only run and lone hit in the fourth. Marissa Middleton led off with a walk, stole second and third, before coming home on a single up the middle by Haylee Stratton.
Middleton’s two steals gave her 44 for the year, which is an N10 season record. She also led the conference with a .529 batting average.
“Marissa hit the ball well this year and finally we showed some speed,” Coach Middleton said. “The kid can steal bases. She set the N10 record this year for a reason.”
But that was all the offense the Bucyrus could muster against Collene. BC went on to score two more runs in the fourth and three in the sixth to end it.
Messmer thought that playing tough league games last week prepared his team despite getting a bye into the district.
“That really helped us, playing against Wynford especially,” Messmer said. “Then we got to play against Carey. It gave the girls a little bit of momentum coming into the tournament.”
Bell Bruss went the first three innings in the circle for the Lady Red. She struck out one and walked one, while allowing six runs on nine hits. Karlee Shull finished the last three innings, with one strike out and six walks.
“Top to bottom, they just hit the ball,” Middleton said. “They hit the ball where we were not — a lot of line drives, a few bloopers, but they hit a lot of balls hard today.”
Middleton said his defense was solid amid Buckeye Central’s thunder bats, turning an amazing three double plays.
“I thought our defense played well,” Middleton said. “Hitting today, like I said, Grace was really good, and she was on today. We struggle with pitching of that caliber.”
Fields led the BC hit parade with four singles and drove in three runs. Hoskins had three hits, while Collene and Phoebe Rafferty had two each. Pace and Aleyse Siefert each had a hit and two RBIs apiece.
“I knew I didn’t want them coming out flat,” Messmer said. “So they came out today with great energy. Booking those (league) games like we did really helped us.”
Middleton had to say goodbye to his four seniors, including his daughter, Marissa.
“Bell pitched good for us all year,” Middleton said. “She’s not overpowering, but when she’s hitting her spots, she’s really good.”
He also cited the improvement of Tavia Parker and the return of Danica Rowalt.
“Tavia Parker — outstanding batting average this year for her,” Middleton said. “She just elevated her whole game this year.”
Rowalt returned after a year’s hiatus.
“We talked her into coming back this year. She sat out a year. She played really good third base for us.
“It’ll be really tough losing our seniors.”
“I’m proud of the girls. They really worked in the off-season,” Messmer said. “We’ve worked on their hitting the last few practices. They wanted it pretty bad. They would stay after practice doing a little extra work.”
“They proved they were the No. 1 seed,” Middleton said of the Buckettes. “Grace — outstanding pitcher. She’s been that way for a long, long time. She was today. Even with the wet ball, she threw well.”
Box score
Bucyrus 000 100 X 1 1 0
Buckeye Central 024 203 X 11 13 0
WP: Grace Collene (10 SO, 1 W)
LP: Bell Bruss (1 SO, 1 W)
HR: (BC) Grace Collene (solo, 3rd inning).
Triples: (BC) Zoey Hoskins 2, Savannah Pace.
Doubles: None.
Multiple hits: (BC) Leah Fields 4, Zoey Hoskins 3, Grace Collene, Phoebe Rafferty.
Records: Bucyrus 5-21; Buckeye Central 17-5.
Next: Bucyrus season over; Buckeye Central vs. Wynford, Division VI district final at Shelby, Thursday.