MAUMEE ­— Miranda Benschoter tossed a shutout and scored the game’s lone run to help Elmwood stun
third-ranked Archbold 1-0 in Saturday’s Division III district softball championship game at Rolf Park.

“We were prepared for today,” Elmwood head coach Matt Hoiles said. “I challenged them. I said, ‘I think
it’s going to be a high-scoring game, but can we win a 1-0 game? Can we?’ The Elmwood of old won a lot
of 1-0 games. Can we do it? We proved today we could.”
A pitchers duel between Benschoter and Archbold’s Payton Robinson engulfed the first five innings.
Through five, the two combined to only give up three hits, while Benschoter retired 15 of the 16 batters
she faced between the first and fifth innings.
Benschoter led off top of the sixth with a triple that landed just fair down the right-field line. Olivia
Myers followed with an RBI single through the right side that scored the game’s only run.
“She got on and I had the confidence enough (to get the hit),” Myers said of her game-winning single. “I
was excited. I blanked everything out of my mind and I was like I have to do this for Miranda because
she did amazing and we had to get that run for her.”
Later in the inning, Elmwood put runners on first and second, but Robinson stranded them.
In the bottom of the inning, Archbold got a runner to second base with one out for the third time in the
game, but Benschoter picked up a strikeout and a pop out to end the inning.
After Elmwood stranded a runner at first in the seventh, Benschoter struck out the first two batters in
the bottom of the seventh.
A throwing error on Elmwood’s shortstop and a stolen base put a runner on second for the fourth time, but
Benschoter picked up her eighth strikeout to end the game and give her team a district title.
“It’s the best day she’s had all year, and she’s had some very good days, but this, by far, was the
best,” Hoiles said of Benschoter. “This is the best hitting team we faced all year. She pitched great.”

Benschoter and Elmwood improved to 22-3. She walked none and struck out eight. She gave up just three
singles, with only one leaving the infield.
“I did well,” Benschoter said. “I was hitting my spots. Everything was working for me. A couple got away,
but I came back and did what I had to do.”
Benschoter and Elmwood were in the same spot last year, but lost to Eastwood, which Benschoter said was
“the worst feeling ever.”
This year, however, her team is advancing to a regional semifinals to take on New London Wednesday in a 5
p.m. start at Fostoria High School. Archbold finished 26-2.
ELMWOOD 1, ARCHBOLD 0
ELMWOOD 000 001 0—1 5 1
ARCHBOLD 000 000 0—0 3 1
BATTING LEADERS
HITS —(E) Benschoter, Myers, Harvey, Arnold, Marsh; (A) Gerig, Beck, Williams. 2B — (E) Harvey. 3B —(E)
Benschoter. RUNS — (E) Benschoter. RBI — (E) Myers. SB — (A) Beck, Gerken, Williams. LOB — Archbold 4,
Elmwood 5. DP — Archbold.
PITCHING SUMMARY
IP H R ER BB SO
ELMWOOD
Benschoter (WP) 7 3 3 0 2 8
ARCHBOLD
Robinson (LP) 7 5 1 1 1 4