CLYDE — Makaree Chapman and her Lexington teammates got the monkey off their backs.
Chapman twirled a three-hitter and Lady Lex powered to a 6-1 win over Bryan in a Division IV regional championship game Friday at Clyde’s Joe Wilson Field.
Lexington (24-3) advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2002. Lady Lex will play either Kenton Ridge or Licking Valley in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. June 4 at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. Kenton Ridge and Licking Valley meet at noon Saturday in Mason.
Bryan beat Lexington in the Division II regional championship game last spring. Lady Lex lost a wealth of talent from that team, but coach Todd Galownia knew he had a group that could avenge that loss — even if no one else believed it.
“Our very first night, when everybody else was telling us we weren’t that great because we lost so many seniors, I told our girls that we were practicing and playing to beat Bryan,” he said after Lexington’s regional semifinal win over Lake.
“We wanted that rematch. A lot of people told us we couldn’t but … here we are.”
Lady Lex scored all the runs they would need in the top of the first when Mariana Molton belted a three-run home run with two outs. Lexington added two runs in the second and another in the third on Quinn Patrick’s run-scoring single.
Bryan scored its lone run in the fourth on Averyann Fisher’s RBI-groundout.
Patrick led Lady Lex with two hits. Camryn McGuire and Addy Williams doubled.
Chapman struck out 12 and walked three. She threw 116 pitches, 75 for strikes.