Shawnee (18-7) will play Monroe (18-3) in a D-II district final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Brookville. The game was originally scheduled for 11 a.m., but was moved due to Monroe’s graduation.
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It’s the third district final appearance in seven seasons for the Braves.
“I’m very excited,” said Shawnee coach Chris Roberts. “Our conference is so tough and our sectional is like a CBC tournament. It’s always nice to get out of there as well. The familiarity makes it tough. I couldn’t be happier for the girls. They’ve done a great job all year.”
The Braves trailed early against Graham and took the lead for good on a two-run home run by shortstop Tori Huxley, her second of the season.
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Last Saturday, Shawnee beat CBC Mad River Division rival North Union 3-2 in a regular-season game, overcoming a 2-0 deficit. The Braves also held on to beat Kenton Ridge in a second-round game.
‘It’s kind of been a theme for this team,” Roberts said. “They’re very resilient. We don’t panic and we don’t tend to give up. That’s a good thing.”
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The Braves have four hitters batting .375 or better — Alise Moneypenny (.405, 20 RBIs), Reagan Simpson (.403, 24 RBIs), Paree Furness (.385, 11 SBs) and Huxley (.376, 21 RBIs). Sophomore pitcher Hannah Beers is 13-4 with a 2.55 ERA and 80 strikeouts.
Shawnee is one of three CBC teams to advance to the district finals, including Jonathan Alder in D-II and Benjamin Logan in D-III.
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Monroe won the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division title. They’re led by junior pitcher Alyssa Wagner, who is 18-3 with a 0.64 earned run average and 255 strikeouts.
The Hornets’ Sam Schwab hit a walkoff single with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 3-2 victory over Chaminade Julienne to advance to their second straight district final. Monroe was eliminated by Kenton Ridge last season.
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“The deeper you go, the better they get,” Roberts said. “We’re going to have to bring our A-game every time. I think we will. For the last two weeks, we’ve been playing at an exceptional level. We’ve been playing well all year long, but we’ve seemed to hit that peak right now, which is a good time to be doing it.”
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