Tri-Valley shows heart in tough district final loss

PICKERINGTON — A bad first inning didn't deter Tri-Valley on Saturday afternoon.

The 10th-seeded Scotties erased a 2-0 deficit and had the go-ahead run thrown out at the plate in the fourth inning.

However, it wasn't enough as third seed Hilliard Darby plated a run in the bottom of the fifth and held on for a 3-2 victory in the Division I district final at Pickerington Central.

Tri-Valley finished the season 22-7, while the Jaguars face top seed Watkins Memorial in a regional semifinal at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

"We were well-prepared and ready to go, but that first inning didn't go like we expected," Tri-Valley coach Brian Sterling said. "The girls fought back, and we were going to be aggressive. We didn't want to leave here wondering what if."

More: Muskingum lost its first chance for a regional berth, but rebounded to reach the Super Regionals

Tri-Valley showed heart

Mickey Moody's two-run single with two outs in the first gave the Jaguars the early edge, but Tri-Valley ace Paiton Murphy dug in to give her team a chance.

She struck out nine, scattered five hits and walked none in the complete-game loss. All three Bradley runs were unearned.

"They know how to win, and they do that by putting the ball in play," Sterling said about Bradley. "We tried to change up speeds, but they floated one to right field and went ahead early."

The Scotties were limited to one single through three innings before the offense found traction in the fourth.

Cydnee Wolford led off with a single but was retired on a fielder's choice. Ally Peterson then singled to center to put runners at first and second, and Reffitt followed with a two-out RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Larsyn Holdsworth then smacked a double to the gap in left field where Peterson scored, but Reffitt was thrown out on a close play at the plate.

"(Alivia's) a good athlete and great base runner," he said. "They had to make two perfect throws, and we came up short on that one."

The Jaguars went ahead in the bottom of the fifth. Andrea Day led off with a double, and a Tri-Valley error on Loghan Cromer's bunt put runners at second and third with no outs. Murphy allowed an RBI sac fly to Taylor Hopkins, but a strikeout and groundout ended the threat.

"We wanted to challenge them, and they hit a sac fly," STerling said. "We always tell our girls to take advantage of any opportunity and live for the next play.

"We knew this would be a challenge and liked the way we were coming into this game," he added. "Hats off to Bradley for doing what they needed to do, but I'm proud of our girls and what they did, too."

The Scotties had a chance to tie in the sixth. Murphy led off with a walk, and Kylan Brock drew a one-out walk, but a strikeout and groundout ended the frame, then Tri-Valley went in order in the seventh.

Holdsworth had two of the Scotties' five hits, and Caity Journey, Peterson and Reffitt also added hits, while Jillian Meszaros gave up six hits with two strikeouts in five innings and Moody pitched two scoreless innings for the save for the Jaguars.

Brock, Journey leave mark on the program

Tri-Valley was looking to bring home a district title, and Sterling was grateful his squad had a chance.

While the Scotties came up short, their fight was indicative of the senior leadership from Brock and Journey. He praised what the two have meant to the program.

"I can't say enough good things about those two," Sterling said about Brock and Journey. "It wasn't just the way they perform and how they perform, it was them doing everything we asked. They pulled the underclassmen up with them and led by example."

The Scotties have plenty of talent scheduled to return, including Murphy, Reffitt, Peterson, Holdsworth and Wolford. Sterling hopes this experience aids their growth into next year.

"We talk about playing for banners and trophies that will be in the trophy case," he noted. "We talked about those past teams, and their toughness, mentally and physically, and used that as a guiding block. We wanted them to be proud to make it this far and understand what it would mean to put that trophy in there. We came up short of that today, but I'm still proud of them and the legacy they left."

bhannahs@gannett.com; X: @brandonhannahs

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Battle-tested Tri-Valley comes up shy of district crown