Russia’s Jaela Shappie slides into home plate ahead of a throw during the third inning of a Division IV district semifinal on Wednesday in Ansonia. The Raiders built a 3-1 lead but gave up four runs in the fifth and lost 5-3. They finish 15-9 overall.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
ANSONIA — While Russia lost a Division IV district semifinal against Ansonia, the squad showed both on Wednesday and in the last weeks of the season it was among the area’s best softball teams.
The Raiders gave up four runs in the fifth and fell 5-3 to Ansonia to finish 15-10 overall. They led 3-1 before the bottom of the fifth and had runners in scoring position in the sixth but couldn’t score.
It was a far more competitive game than a 3-1 loss to Ansonia on April 19 in which Russia gave up three runs in the first inning and struggled to get base runners the whole night.
The Raiders dropped to 7-6 that night but won eight of their last 12 games, including a 5-4 win over Fort Loramie on Saturday to earn a share of the Shelby County Athletic League title.
“I think that a lot of people doubted them. And I think that through different accomplishments that they had this year, they just proved so many people wrong,” Russia coach Kenliegh Ludlow said. “And there’s such a bright future ahead.
“We’re definitely going to miss our seniors, who are our leaders; they are our rock and we’re going to miss them. But the underclassmen know that they left a legacy, and they want to continue that.”
Russia will lose six seniors to graduation, including Saige Hoying and Jaela Shappie, who were named first team all-SCAL selections earlier this week. They’ll also lose Kori Goubeaux, who was an honorable mention all-SCAL selection.
“A lot of them were playing in new positions and doing different things,” Ludlow, who is in her first year as coach, said of the seniors. “Just the way they communicate and really believe in one another, that’s not just a softball skill that you can teach them. The friendships that they had, and really just how much joy they had for one another, is something that was just so contagious. And I know that our younger girls have picked up on that too.
“And they just play with such a fight, such tenacity, all the time. …We’re proud of them for putting it all out there. And we know that that’s such a great tone and example for the girls. We’ve told them this is a family, they’re your teammates on the field they’re teammates off the field. These girls all have a bright future ahead of them, in every aspect.”
The Raiders had six hits and drew eight walks off Ansonia ace Abby Kramer; they had half as many walks and two hits in April’s loss to the Tigers.
After Russia gave up four runs in the fifth, they drew two walks in the sixth and had runners on second and third but couldn’t drive any home. After a leadoff walk in the seventh, the next three batters were retired in order.
“We had the base runners on and didn’t find a way to push them across,” Ludlow said. “It was a pretty clean game both ways. It just went their way today. And that’s how it is sometimes.
“I’m proud of them. A lot of things look good in the future. And like I said, it was just great how they worked through different obstacles this season and came out on top in the league, which was one of our goals. We wanted to obviously continue, and though that’s not how it’s going to go this time around, we’re still proud of them.”
Kramer gave up three earned runs and struck out four batters. Russia junior Ella Phlipot, who is one of several key players slated to return next year, gave up one earned run on seven hits and two walks; she struck out three batters.
Both teams scored one run in the first. Russia took a 2-1 lead in the second when Shay Hammonds hit a line-drive single to center field to score Addison Shappie, who singled on a line drive to right earlier in the inning.
Jaela Shappie drew a walk to start the fifth, then stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error to boost the lead to 3-1.
But Ansonia came up with a pair of key hits in the bottom half of the inning to take a two-run lead.
Maddie Buckingham was hit by a pitch, then Ava Thatcher hit a fly ball to left and reached on a fielding error. The runners advanced on a groundout, then Addison Geyer was intentionally walked.
Kelsey Muhlenkamp then hit a two-run double that went over the head of Russia left fielder Laci Phlipot. Jayda Mangen then hit a single on a hard ground ball up the middle that rolled into center field and allowed two more runs to score.
Hammonds was 4 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
The Tigers (21-6) advance to face Fayetteville-Perry in a district final, which is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday in Middletown.
Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).
