Bowling Green and Perrysburg were both looking for that small window of
opportunity to score a run Thursday afternoon in a Division I sectional softball championship game at
BGHS.After five scoreless innings, each team scored in the sixth inning.The Bobcats then scored the eventual
game-winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh inning to slip past the Yellow Jackets, 2-1.The
next tournament action for the Bobcats, now 5-17, is Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Fremont Ross at the Tiffin
University sports complex.‘‘We just had a good feeling about tonight,’’ said BG’s Hanna Williford. ‘‘It
feels great to win this game. We have had a hard season.‘‘We just keep saying when it gets to tournament
time, we can really win some games, we believe in ourselves. To just come out and actually do it, it was
really exciting.’’In the seventh, BG’s Lily Murnen singled to start the inning, stole second and then stayed
at second when Reagan Morman reached on an error, After a strikeout, Williford singled to right field to
load the bases. Murnen then scored on a wild pitch.‘‘We went crazy in the dugout, we were so happy,’’ said
Williford, who had been replaced on the bases by a courtesy runner.In the bottom of the seventh, Williford
got two strikeouts and a pop up in front of the plate to close things out and finish off a solid pitching
performance.‘‘Hanna did a phenomenal job pitching,’’ BG head coach Jim Cress said. ‘‘She doesn’t have a lot
of pitches, but she is able to put the ball in different locations.‘‘She has gotten stronger as the season
has progressed and a lot more confident.’’Williford had a no-hitter for 5 2/3 innings before Perrysburg
bunched together its only three hits of the game. In the first five innings, Williford allowed only two base
runners to reach, one on a walk and the other on an error, She needed only 51 pitches to get through the
first five innings.BG had hits in three of the first five innings, but could not score.In the sixth, BG’s
Anna Szabo reached on an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground ball to
the pitcher.Kelsey Parker got a suicide squeeze bunt down in front of the plate, but Szabo was called out
attempting to score, with Parker reaching first base.Kristi Eikenbery responded with an RBI triple to center
to score Parker.Perrysburg shortstop Katie Dunphy made a nice play on a bid for a hit up the middle to end
the inning.Williford retired the first two batters in the sixth inning before Raegan Vickers lined a double
into center field.Vickers then scored on Tylah Remaley’s base hit to center field. Kayleen Jurski followed
with a single to center, but Williford got out of trouble when Murnen tracked down a long fly ball in center
field.‘‘I do get really nervous,’’ Williford said. ‘‘It’s nerve-wracking when the score stays the same,
especially when it gets closer to the end of the game. In the seventh inning, I was very nervous.‘‘That’s
good, nerves help me focus more.’’Williford struck out seven and walked one.‘‘Williford did a tremendous
job. She pitched great and her defense played very well,’’ Perrysburg head coach Ryan DeMars. ‘‘They scored
the runs they needed to and we didn’t do what we needed to do.’’Cress said the team worked on its defense
and moved some players to different positions for the tournament game and it paid off. Each team had only
one error in the game.‘‘The bottom line was the defense was real solid tonight,’’ Cress said. ‘‘It was a
great win for the girls. It’s a confidence builder for them.’’Jurski went the distance for Perrysburg, 9-15,
allowing seven hits while striking out seven and not walking a batter.‘‘Our girls battled. It was a tough
game. They made a lot of big plays. We played hard,’’ DeMars said. ‘‘After BG scored that first run, we came
back and tied it up. It was clutch out of Tylah getting that run in and with Raegen starting it off with a
double to give us an opportunity.‘‘The bottom line is, that we just don’t make the adjustments (mostly at
bat) we need to make,’’ he continued. ‘‘That’s been the story of the year … and it hurt us
here.’’SOFTBALLSECTIONALDIVISION IBGHS 2, PERRYSBURG 1BGHS 000 001 1—2 7 1PERRYSBURG000 001 0—1 3 1BATTING
LEADERSHITS —(BG) Szabo, Parker, Eikenbery, Sidle, Murnen, Morman, Williford; (P) Vickers, Remaley, Jurski.
2B — (BG) Sidle; (P) Vickers. 3B — (BG) Eikenbery. RUNS — (BG) Parker, Murnen; (P) Vickers. RBI — (BG)
Eikenberg; (P) Reamley. SB —(BG) Murnen, Morman. SAC — (P) Remaley, Gerding. LOB — BGHS 6. Perrysburg
4.PITCHING SUMMARYIP H R ER BB SOBGHSWilliford (WP) 7 3 1 1 1 7PERRYSBURGJurski (LP) 7 7 2 2 0 7