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May 30—The Southeastern High School softball team is headed to the state tournament for the first time in school history.
Trojans senior Reese Wells tossed a six-hit shutout and struck out 15 batters as Southeastern beat New Riegel 3-0 in a Division VII regional final game on Friday, May 29 at Wapakoneta High School.
Wells sat down the last Blue Jackets' last batter for the final out to send her team to the Final Four. She leaped in the air and immediately ran to hug catcher Kaylee Wells, her twin sister. She could only describe the feeling as "unreal."
"I knew a strikeout ending this game would be amazing, and I almost started crying immediately, just because I'm so excited for this," Reese Wells said. "It just feels unbelievable to be able to get there."
Kaylee Wells had a double and an RBI for the Trojans, who improved to 28-3 overall. Senior Gabby McNier and junior Morgen Watson also added RBIs.
The victory was the culmination of a year's worth of hard work to get back to the regional final. The Trojans lost to Covington 10-6 at this stage in the tournament last season.
"We've been talking about this since last year," said Trojans coach Kaitlyn Blair. "We went out to eat after that game, and the girls were like, 'Okay, next year we're going to be celebrating after this game,' and we've done it."
The Trojans are the first team to advance to an OHSAA state tournament since the girls basketball program advanced in 2002.
The Trojans loaded the bases in the first inning, but couldn't bring home a run.
New Riegel's Ruthann Baughman led off the third inning with a double to right field, eventually moving to third on a groundout, but Reese Wells struck out the next batter to end the threat. Despite their six hits, the Blue Jackets wouldn't get another runner to third base.
"We let that first strike go by a little bit too much," said New Riegel coach Tony Conner. "(Reese Wells) is one of those pitchers that wants that first strike, and then she works the ball away from you. Her changeup is not crazy slow, but it's slow enough just to get you to jump, you know, and that's what good pitchers are going to do. That's what a good senior pitcher is going to do. They're going to know how to work that. ... Hats off to them. They did a great job. She did a great job on the mound. (Southeastern catcher Kaylee Wells) kept us in check, you know, and they got the hit when we didn't and that's just how it goes sometimes."
With one out in the bottom of the inning, junior Abby Davis reached on an error and Kaylee Wells made them pay. She roped a line drive over right fielder Claire Schalk's head, scoring Davis from first to make it 1-0. After Reese Wells walked, McNier singled to bring home Kaylee Wells to increase their lead to 2-0.
"We just do such a good job of stringing things together when we need to get things done," Blair said. "We really focus on moving runners, capitalizing on mistakes, taking advantage of situations, and they continue to do that every single game. So proud of them."
The Trojans added an insurance run in the fifth inning on a bases loaded walk to Watson to make it 3-0.
New Riegel got runners on base in both the sixth and seventh inning, but couldn't find an answer against Reese Wells.
"I was mixing up pitches really well," Reese Wells said. "My pitches were moving pretty well. My changeup was on. He was giving me a lot of the calls, and my defense was playing great behind me when the ball was put in play. They had a couple little bloop hits, but we didn't let that affect us, and we just kept going from there.
"I kept telling them, 'keep adding on, keep adding on, we'll feel a little bit more comfortable.' In that last inning, I'm like, 'just play for outs, they get a run, it doesn't matter, we are playing for outs here,' and then everybody just played amazing."
Reese Wells hasn't allowed more than one run in a game since beating Franklin Bishop Fenwick 5-3 on April 27. She's thrown four shutouts in five postseason games.
"She's just a dog," Blair said. "It's kind of funny. I always say if she has a bad at-bat, I feel bad for the girls that have to face her when she comes back out on the mound. She's one that she's like, 'You get a hit on me, watch, you're not gonna do anything else.'"
The Trojans advanced to face Cortland Maplewood (27-2) in a D-VII state semifinal game at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 4 at Akron Firestone Stadium.
"I'm really excited for these girls," Blair said. "I'm excited for them to get up at Firestone Stadium. That energy is amazing. I'm so glad that they get to experience this."
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Trojans senior Reese Wells tossed a six-hit shutout and struck out 15 batters as Southeastern beat New Riegel 3-0 in a Division VII regional final game on Friday, May 29 at Wapakoneta High School.
Wells sat down the last Blue Jackets' last batter for the final out to send her team to the Final Four. She leaped in the air and immediately ran to hug catcher Kaylee Wells, her twin sister. She could only describe the feeling as "unreal."
"I knew a strikeout ending this game would be amazing, and I almost started crying immediately, just because I'm so excited for this," Reese Wells said. "It just feels unbelievable to be able to get there."
Kaylee Wells had a double and an RBI for the Trojans, who improved to 28-3 overall. Senior Gabby McNier and junior Morgen Watson also added RBIs.
The victory was the culmination of a year's worth of hard work to get back to the regional final. The Trojans lost to Covington 10-6 at this stage in the tournament last season.
"We've been talking about this since last year," said Trojans coach Kaitlyn Blair. "We went out to eat after that game, and the girls were like, 'Okay, next year we're going to be celebrating after this game,' and we've done it."
The Trojans are the first team to advance to an OHSAA state tournament since the girls basketball program advanced in 2002.
The Trojans loaded the bases in the first inning, but couldn't bring home a run.
New Riegel's Ruthann Baughman led off the third inning with a double to right field, eventually moving to third on a groundout, but Reese Wells struck out the next batter to end the threat. Despite their six hits, the Blue Jackets wouldn't get another runner to third base.
"We let that first strike go by a little bit too much," said New Riegel coach Tony Conner. "(Reese Wells) is one of those pitchers that wants that first strike, and then she works the ball away from you. Her changeup is not crazy slow, but it's slow enough just to get you to jump, you know, and that's what good pitchers are going to do. That's what a good senior pitcher is going to do. They're going to know how to work that. ... Hats off to them. They did a great job. She did a great job on the mound. (Southeastern catcher Kaylee Wells) kept us in check, you know, and they got the hit when we didn't and that's just how it goes sometimes."
With one out in the bottom of the inning, junior Abby Davis reached on an error and Kaylee Wells made them pay. She roped a line drive over right fielder Claire Schalk's head, scoring Davis from first to make it 1-0. After Reese Wells walked, McNier singled to bring home Kaylee Wells to increase their lead to 2-0.
"We just do such a good job of stringing things together when we need to get things done," Blair said. "We really focus on moving runners, capitalizing on mistakes, taking advantage of situations, and they continue to do that every single game. So proud of them."
The Trojans added an insurance run in the fifth inning on a bases loaded walk to Watson to make it 3-0.
New Riegel got runners on base in both the sixth and seventh inning, but couldn't find an answer against Reese Wells.
"I was mixing up pitches really well," Reese Wells said. "My pitches were moving pretty well. My changeup was on. He was giving me a lot of the calls, and my defense was playing great behind me when the ball was put in play. They had a couple little bloop hits, but we didn't let that affect us, and we just kept going from there.
"I kept telling them, 'keep adding on, keep adding on, we'll feel a little bit more comfortable.' In that last inning, I'm like, 'just play for outs, they get a run, it doesn't matter, we are playing for outs here,' and then everybody just played amazing."
Reese Wells hasn't allowed more than one run in a game since beating Franklin Bishop Fenwick 5-3 on April 27. She's thrown four shutouts in five postseason games.
"She's just a dog," Blair said. "It's kind of funny. I always say if she has a bad at-bat, I feel bad for the girls that have to face her when she comes back out on the mound. She's one that she's like, 'You get a hit on me, watch, you're not gonna do anything else.'"
The Trojans advanced to face Cortland Maplewood (27-2) in a D-VII state semifinal game at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 4 at Akron Firestone Stadium.
"I'm really excited for these girls," Blair said. "I'm excited for them to get up at Firestone Stadium. That energy is amazing. I'm so glad that they get to experience this."
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