Shawnee junior Lilly Adams went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and junior Maura Simpson went 2-for-3 as the Braves finished the season 18-9.
The game was scoreless until the Indians broke through for seven runs on eight hits in the bottom of the third inning to take a 7-0 lead.
“We just had one bad inning,” said Braves coach Devin Spitzer. “They just really took it to us that inning. They had been through the order once and we kind of held them down. (In the third inning), they sprinkled in some really good hits with some dinks that kind of found their way where nobody was. Everything seemed to go right for them that inning. We just could not seem to get that final out.”
In the fifth inning, Shawnee freshman Emma George singled and later scored on a bases loaded single by freshman Nicole Greene to cut the lead to 7-1.
The Indians scored three more runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 10-1 lead.
Shawnee got three runs back in the top of the seventh inning, but couldn’t get any closer.
“I was proud of them,” Spitzer said. “They really played a great game. (Carlisle) was just better tonight.”
Indians senior pitcher Savannah Brown struck out 12 for Carlisle (26-3), which advanced to play either Fairbanks or Baltimore Liberty Union in a D-III regional semifinal game at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22 at Centerville High School.
After going 11-11 last season, the Braves were a contender in the super competitive Central Buckeye Conference, finishing tied for second in the Mad River Division behind D-II ninth-ranked Indian Lake (23-2). The Kenton Trail Division also had two 20-win teams in D-II third-ranked Kenton Ridge (25-4) and 10th-ranked Jonathan Alder (20-4).
The Braves advanced to a D-III district final game for the second time in three seasons. With a young roster that includes no seniors, Shawnee expects to return its entire squad next spring.
“After the game, I told them the only thing that’s going to derail our season next year is if you feel like you’re entitled to something or you feel like you’ve arrived,” Spitzer said. “You’ve got to work just as hard and you’ve got to earn it. The CBC isn’t going to lay down because we have some returning players. (The CBC) is still going to be good. We’ve got high hopes for sure.”
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