NEW WASHINGTON — One bad inning and the pitching of Buckeye Central freshman A.J. Jury doomed Mansfield Christian.

The Buckettes scored nine runs in the second inning and Jury tossed a three-hitter. The result was a 12-1 win, in five innings, over the Flames in the Division IV semifinal at Buckeye Central High School on Monday.

The win advances the Buckettes to the sectional final to meet No. 1 seed Monroeville on Thursday. It was Buckeye Central’s first softball tournament win in four years.

“We started A.J. We’re trying to rest Grace (Collene) for the rest of the run here,” Buckeye Central coach Todd Messmer said. “A.J. did a good job today. They came to play today. I was proud of them.”

After Elisa McFadden beat out an infield hit to start the game, Jury retired the next 11 Mansfield Christian batters into the fourth inning. Jury finished with five strikeouts, with no walks, though she did hit a batter.

The Buckettes’ offense got all the runs Jury needed with 3 in the bottom of the first. Olivia Bishop was hit by a pitch leading off. Aleyse Siefert followed with a single. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and Faye Betts plated Bishop with a sacrifice foy.

Jury walked, Collene and Kaitlin Best singled and Nora Lane drove in the third run with a sacrifice fly.

But the second inning sealed it. Nine runs came home for BC on only four hits. Three errors and three walks aided the cause.

“(Seven) unearned runs is not pleasant,” Mansfield Christian coach Kelly Taylor said. “Three errors, bad timing. That’s the game. That’s exactly what we told the girls.”

The big blows in the inning were a triple by Best to the fence in left center and a double by Allie Pifher. The Buckettes never scored after that, but they didn’t need to.

“That’s a coach’s dream,” Messmer said of the combination of Jury’s pitching and the offensive explosion. “I’d like to have that every day.”

He was also pleased with ending the tournament drought.

“It’s huge for our momentum going forward, for our league games, and for the tournament game Thursday,” Messmer said.

The Flames finally pushed across a run in the top of the fifth to avert the shutout. Brooke Badgley was hit by a pitch leading off, moved up on a wild pitch and got to third on a ground out. A.J. Basilone brought her home on a ground ball.

Dakota Craner got the third and final hit with two outs but was left on base.

Taylor said her young squad improved as the year progressed.

“We’re young. We’ve got 12 that had never played varsity ball before,” Taylor said. “Five returnees — last year was their first year. So, we’re young. We’ve improved tremendously over the season. I’m proud of them.”

Starting pitcher Noel Cline struggled with control early, walking four and hitting two batters in the first two innings. Cline then settled down over the next two innings, walking only one more batter and hitting one.

“This is her first year of pitching,” Taylor said of Cline. “Last year she got a couple of innings, but we had a senior pitcher. I’m proud of her for settling down, finding her rhythm.”

Messmer thinks his team is catching its stride.

“Our competition at the start of the season was brutal,” speaking of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference schedule. “All the top teams in the league from the beginning. But I think it’s helped us. Our record may not show it, but we competed in those games. We had goals for the year, and so far, we’re meeting some of those goals.”

Best paced the Buckeye Central offense with two hits, including a triple and drove in two runs. Siefert had two singles and scored twice. Pifher doubled, scored, and drove in one and Zoey Haskins singled and scored twice.

Taylor said her team never quit.

“Before we came out for that last at bat, I said, ‘Ladies, let’s get a run on the board. Let’s score one,’” Taylor related. “’Let’s go away with one on the board.’ They did it.”

The Buckettes will now prepare for the top-seeded Monroeville, on Thursday.

They’re the No. 1 seed in our (district),” Messmer said. “We played them in a scrimmage. We’ve got to bring our A game and they’re a tough team, so we just have to battle and see what happens.”

Box score

Mansfield Christian     000 01X X       1        3        3

Buckeye Central           390 0XX X     12        7        0

WP: A.J. Jury (5 SO, 0 W)

LP: Noel Cline (5 SO, 6 W)

HR: None.

Triples: (BC) Kaitlin Best.

Doubles: (BC) Allie Pifher.

Multiple hits: (BC) Aleyse Siefert, Kaitlin Best.

Records: Mansfield Christian 3-11; Buckeye Central 5-13.

Next: Buckeye Central at Wynford, Tuesday; Mansfield Christian at Crestline, Wednesday.