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Warriors down Jackson

MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times Warren’s Avery Grayson lays down a bunt during a high school softball game against Jackson Tuesday in Vincent.

VINCENT — Try as they may, Warren just could not completely put Jackson away.

The Lady Warriors, who led by as many as seven runs in Tuesday evening’s Southeastern Ohio Athletic League battle against the Ironladies, were forced to hold off a furious seventh inning comeback bid before registering an 11-9 win.

Warren, which scored in every single inning of the contest, was out-hit 13-11 by Jackson, which came into the game sporting a nifty 10-3 record.

“Our team just hasn’t been able to put everything together yet this year so maybe this will help,” said fourth- year Warren head coach Jenny Lynch. “Our girls have a lot of heart, we just need to put it all together.”

Jackson committed seven errors in the game and the Warriors took advantage of a pair of them in the opening frame as they scored three times to provide starting pitcher Sarah Greenlee with a little bit of a cushion.

The Ironladies took advantage of one of three Warrior errors in the game to get on the board in the top of the second but Warren answered in the bottom of the inning when Grace Way doubles and Elizabeth Williams singled.

Warren scored three more times in the last of the third on a RBI single by Emily Foster and a two-run single by Chloe Corser and appeared to be well on their way to a blow-out win.

Jackson got those three runs back in a hurry though as they batted around in the top of the fourth to crawl right back in it.

Kylie Bako, Emilia Davis and Mariah Ridgeway each collected RBIs in the fourth as Jackson cut the lead to 7-4.

The Lady Warriors got one of those runs back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Diamond Decker and two more in the fifth with the big blow being an RBI double by Olivia Shutts.

Greenlee appeared to settle down in the circle as she kept the Ironladies off the board in the fifth and sixth innings while her offense scored two times in the fifth and once more in the sixth to take what appeared to be a comfortable 11-4 lead into the final inning.

An infield ground-out by Jordan Banks plated the first Jackson run and two more came into score on another Warrior fielding error to cut the lead to four.

A run-scoring double by Sydney Humphreys, her fourth hit of the game, plated another run and another RBI hit by Davis made it 11-9.

Greenlee walked Ridgeway to put the tying run on the bases but rallied to get Raylene Hammond to pop out on the infield to end the game.

“Jackson is a great hitting team and I give them all the credit in the world as they just kept battling,” said Lynch, whose team improved to 6-8 on the season with the win. “It was a real battle but Sarah (Greenlee) did a great job to finish them off.”

Williams paced the Warren offense by going a perfect four-for-four at the plate while Decker went 2-3 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.

Jackson slipped to 10-4 with the loss while the Lady Warriors improved to 6-8 with a home game against Parkersburg slated for Thursday.

Warren baseball gets big league win over Jackson

Warren rallied for three runs in the last of the fifth inning to take the lead and then leaned on the strong right arm of starting pitcher Chase Weihl to score a 4-3 win over Jackson and claim a South Eastern Ohio Athletic League championship in the what is the leagues final season.

A clutch RBI double by Bryce Gandee tied the game and Tanner Neal came into score the go-ahead run on a passed ball as the Warriors improved to 11-6 on the season.

“The kids did a good job of staying the course,” said Warren head coach Ryan Lemley. “We were able to keep getting their pitch counts up and managed to do some damage in the later innings.”

Once given the lead the six-foot-seven inch Weihl took care of things the rest of the way as he allowed a single run in the sixth before retiring Jackson in order in the final frame to secure the win and the league crown for the white and royal blue.

Weihl scattered five basehits while allowing a pair of earned runs and striking out seven for the winners.

“I really felt Chase (Weihl) got better as the game went on” said Lemley, whose club improved to 11-6 with the win. “I thought he may be in a little trouble early on but he buckled down and threw the kind of game we expect from him. I was really proud of him, especially in the later innings.”

Max Hapney, Drew Huffman and Neal collected a pair of hits apiece to pace the Warren offense.

“It’s great to get the title and although there are only three teams in the league, they are three very good teams,” said Lemley. “We’re proud of it but it’s just one of our goals that we wanted to reach for the season and we still have some things left that we want to accomplish.”

Bryce Hall suffered the loss for Jackson which slips to 5-7 on the season, while Billy Cooper led the Ironmen offense by going 2-for-3. Warren returns to action Thursday at home against Parkersburg.

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