Rain trimmed the high school softball regional tournament schedule May 27, but four central Ohio teams remain alive for state berths from the games that were played.
Westerville Central and Johnstown pulled away for wins in Division II and Division V, respectively, while Liberty Union (Division V) and Newark Catholic (Division VII) won in their final at-bats.
Here is a recap from the May 27 regional semifinals:
Division II
Westerville Central 9, Oregon Clay 3
Christelle Crosier, Jane LeMasters and Hannah Pullins each had three hits, LeMasters homered and the Warhawks (26-2) scored five runs in the second inning to pull away from Clay in Region 7 at Shelby.
Crosier and Pullins had RBI singles and two runs scored on an error to highlight the second inning. LeMasters’ homer to lead off the third made it 7-0.
Elliott Long struck out 13 and scattered six hits in a complete-game win for Central, which will face third-ranked Whitehouse Anthony Wayne (26-3) in the regional final at 5 p.m. May 29. The Warhawks are seeking their second regional title and first since 2019.
Whitehouse Anthony Wayne 3, Big Walnut 1
In the second Region 7 semifinal, the Golden Eagles (18-10) scored their only run on one of three Generals errors but were held to two hits.
Kennedy Reed reached on an error in the fourth inning, and Katelyn Boudinot scored to get Big Walnut within 2-1. Consecutive strikeouts ended the inning and stranded two runners.
Sarah Adams and Ellie Crotty singled for the Golden Eagles. Adams went six innings in the circle, giving up five hits while striking out seven and walking four.
Division V
Johnstown (24-6) and Liberty Union (25-1) will meet in the Region 18 final after their semifinals played out in dramatically different ways.
Ryleigh Brown’s grand slam to left field in the bottom of the 10th lifted Liberty Union to a 5-1 win over Archbold at Harrod Allen East.
Suzie Shultz homered in the fourth and was perfect over the final five innings to earn the win, striking out 11.
Johnstown used an eight-run seventh inning to pull away to a 14-3 win over Paulding at Bellville Clear Fork.
Lucia Kuhn’s two-run home run started the onslaught, which included an RBI triple by Riley Stefanick and a two-run double by Jenna Hochanadel.
Hochanadel, who also singled and doubled, finished 3 for 5 with five RBIs. Addy Zak was 4 for 5, including two doubles, and Valerie Wentzel finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
Kuhn scattered nine hits and struck out six in a complete-game win for Johnstown (24-6), which will play for its first regional championship since 2023 and fourth since 2016.
Division VII
Veronica Bailey’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh scored Marissa Richards, and Newark Catholic (21-9) edged Southington Chalker (12-6) 3-2 in Region 28 at Dalton.
The Green Wave, who will play Cortland Maplewood (27-2) in the final at 5 p.m. May 29, scored all of their runs in the final two innings to erase a 2-0 deficit.
Joanna Bailey doubled in Veronica Bailey – who struck out 11 and gave up three hits in a complete-game win – and scored on a Brooklyn Kurtz single.
Chalker tied it in on an error in the top of the seventh.
Newark Catholic is trying for its first state tournament since 2021.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Which central Ohio softball teams won OHSAA regional semis May 27?
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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