LEXINGTON — Lady Lex is in the Sweet 16 for the first time in more than a decade.
For Hillsdale, the wait has been considerably shorter.
Lexington and Hillsdale are the lone area teams left standing after last week’s district tournaments. Both will be in action when regional play begins this week.
Lexington (21-4) is in the regional for the first time since 2011 and will take on Bryan at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Division II New Riegel regional semifinals. The Falcons (21-3) will play Bristol at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Division IV Strongsville regional semis.
Lady Lex advanced with an epic 6-5, 12-inning win over backyard rival Clear Fork in the Willard district final. Kaylie Eichorn’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and one out plated Kylie Galownia with the game-winning run.
“It’s a big deal. We’ve built this program starting about four years ago,” Galownia said. “When the seniors came up they had won about four games. To have 42 wins in two years, it’s really big for our team.”
Bryan advanced with a come-from-behind 8-7 win over Lima Bath in Saturday’s Lima district final at the University of Northwestern Ohio. The Bears scored five runs in the sixth inning to complete the comeback, two days after plating three runs in the sixth inning of a 4-3 win over Elida in the district semifinals.
Hillsdale is in the regional tournament for the first time since 2019. The Falcons won a Division IV state championship in 2018, the program’s seventh state crown, and returned to the Final Four the following year.
With the 2020 season wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic and Hillsdale falling in the district semifinals last spring, this will be the first regional experience for the majority of Hillsdale’s underclass-heavy roster — the Falcons have only three seniors.
“These girls are so excited because we haven’t been there since 2019,” Hillsdale coach Hannah Moore said after the Falcons scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 6-4 win over fellow Ashland County powerhouse Loudonville in the Akron district final.
“For the seniors, this is only the second time and it’s the first time for everybody else. They’re excited and ready to go.”
Hillsdale’s regional semifinal opponent, Bristol, advanced to the Strongsville regional with a 2-1 win over McDonald in the North Jackson district final. Bristol pitcher Jaylyn Mullenax scattered five hits and struck out 11.
