BUCYRUS (Crawford County Now) — What a difference a day makes!

On Tuesday, Carey defeated Bucyrus, 3-2, in a classic pitchers’ duel at Carey.

The rematch on Wednesday at Bucyrus was the polar opposite with essentially the same lineups.

The teams combined for 36 hits in a slugfest won, fittingly, in walk off fashion in the bottom of the seventh.

Maci Messerschmidt lined a single down the rightfield line to plate Karlee Shull from third base, giving the Lady Red an improbable 14-13 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory at Jack Hewitt Field.

“This was the first N10 win for this coaching staff,” Bucyrus coach Mike Middleton said. “I’m proud of the girls.”

Bucyrus (2-4, 1-1 N10) went 0-14 in the N10 last year and hadn’t won a league contest since April 26, 2024, against Upper Sandusky.

Thin on numbers and extremely young, the Lady Red have shown the ability to score runs, save for a shutout at Marion Harding on a cold Saturday morning.

And Middleton got contributions up and down the lineup against the offensive minded Blue Devils. Case in point was their rally to take the lead after falling behind early.

Carey (4-4, 1-2) grabbed the early advantage with a 5-run first inning. The visitors sent 10 batters to the plate, banging out five hits, including a double by Danika Hanna and a two-run single by starting pitcher Tylinn Stoll.

The top of the Bucyrus order got three runs back in the bottom of the first when the first four batters singled, with Messerschmidt’s single driving in two runs.

But it was the bottom of the order that got things rolling in the second.

“Leading off, our 8-hole hitter, Lillyan Butchko, started off with a triple,” Middleton said. “Callie Armstrong hits a double, scores Lilly. The bottom of the lineup hit the ball tonight.”

Butchko and Armstrong turned it over to the top and they kept the momentum going. Haylee Stratton finished it off with a three-run blast to left field for an 8-5 lead after just two innings.

That set the tone for the day. The Blue Devil bats matched the Lady Red nearly pitch for pitch.

“Yesterday, bats were flat,” Carey coach Teresa Gillig said of the difference in complexion of the two contests. “We just couldn’t seem to string hits together yesterday. I told the girls the goal today was everyone is going to hit, and it would be contagious for us tonight. We met that goal.”

Gillig was not wrong. The Blue Devils collected 16 hits, including four doubles. Carey answered with three more runs in the third to tie the game at 8-8 and so it went. There were four ties and five lead changes in the game.

“Last night, both pitchers kept everybody off balance,” Middleton said. “We had five hits, they had four. Tonight, both teams showed up and hit the ball.”

The same two pitchers — Stoll for Carey and Shull for Bucyrus — started the game. Stoll only lasted an inning-and-a-third before being replaced by Hanna. Shull went the distance for the Lady Red.

Bucyrus looked to take control in the bottom of the sixth with four runs on six hits off Hanna to take a 13-11 lead. But the Blue Devils scratched out two runs in the top of the seventh — and left the bases loaded — to set the stage for the dramatic ending.

“We just had a really off night on defense,” Gillig said. “In close games like this, we have to clean up the defense and make the plays we can control. They hit a lot a holes with those in between bloop shots.”

Stratton and Messerschmidt each had four hits for Bucyrus and combined for eight runs batted in. Each scored three times. Shull had three hits and scored four times, while Maddie Kent had three hits and drove in two.

Butchko had two hits including the triple. Armstrong doubled and drove in one and Ni’Cia Floyd, Tori Stang, and Peyton Fackler all singled. Every Lady Red batter had at least one hit.

“Stratton — the three-run bomb she hit was great,” Middleton said. “All the girls participated. All of them were in the game tonight.”

Hanna had three hits with two doubles and scored three times for the Blue Devils. Trinity Reinhart had three hits with a double and drove in three runs. Garnyr McKelvey used three singles to drive in two runs.

Bayah Harsanje had two hits with a double, while Karlie Niederkohr and Ashley Hohman hit safely twice.

“I was proud of the girls giving it 100% the whole game,” Gillig said. “They made things exciting. We have a lot of softball left this week. We just have to clean up our defense.”

Middleton likes the progress of his team.

“We’ve got a lot of young girls out there,” Middleton said. “They’re still learning the game. I thought they played well. We had two freshmen who really played well tonight. Ni’Cia came back tonight and played some really nice outfield. Schmidt — four hits at the plate and driving in the winning score at the end. It was great to get her back on track.”

“The N10 is one of the toughest leagues around,” Gillig said. “Every night is anyone’s given game.”

Box score

Carey        503 102 2        13     16      4

Bucyrus    350 104 1       14     20      5

WP: Karlee Shull (6 SO, 4 W)

LP: Danika Hanna (2 SO, 3 W)

HR: (B) Haylee Stratton (3-run, second inning).

Triples: (B) Maci Messerschmidt, Lillyan Butchko.

Doubles: (C) Danika Hanna 3, Bayah Harsanje, Trinity Reinhart.

Multiple hits: (C) Danika Hanna 3, Gracie McKelvey 3, Trinity Reinhart, Ashley Hohman, Bayah Harsanje, Autumn Bouillon; (B) Haylee Stratton 4, Maci Messerschmidt 4, Maddie Kent 3, Karlee Shull 3, Lillyan Butchko.

Records: Carey 4-4, 1-2 N10; Bucyrus 2-4, 1-1 N10.

Next: Carey at Liberty-Benton, Thursday; Bucyrus at Ridgedale, Thursday.