Here's how Lebanon, Fairfield softball advanced to the Division I regional championship

MASON, Ohio − For the 24th consecutive season, Greater Cincinnati will send a Division I high school softball program to the state Final Four in Akron.

Lebanon and Fairfield each won its respective Division I regional semifinal contest Wednesday at Mason High School.

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Lebanon lost to Miamisburg, 3-2, on April 7 and has not lost since, winning 24 straight. The Warriors got their revenge over the Vikings Wednesday with a hard-fought 4-3 victory, thanks to quality pitching and late-game hitting. Lebanon is now one victory away from reaching the state Final Four for the fifth time in program history (2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).

“We expect a one-run game and that’s how you have to win games at the district finals and regional level and it held up again today,” Lebanon head coach Brian Kindell said. “We really had to battle some adversity in those middle innings.”

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Fairfield got its offense going after a slow start and cruised to a 7-0 win over Milford. Fairfield is in the regional championship game for the first time since 2006 and the Indians need one win to reach the state Final Four for the first time in 32 years.

"I've never been there (state)," said Fairfield head coach Brenda Steiger, who won her 500th career game earlier this season. "I would love it. You can't expect it. It's so hard to get there and I've learned to realize that."

Lebanon and Fairfield will meet in the regional championship game on Friday back at Mason. It's the first meeting between the two clubs since a 2018 district championship game, which Lebanon won, 5-1.

Here’s how the two schools advanced to that point.

3 keys to Lebanon’s win over Miamisburg

• Trailing, 3-2, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Lebanon’s first two hitters were retired before third baseman Kendal Allen was hit by a pitch. That set the stage for first baseman Teagan Ouhl to launch a two-run, two-out homer to left-center that would prove to be the game-winner.

It was the junior’s second home run of the season after going deep in a win over Kings May 4.

“I knew I had to get something done; there were two outs. The first pitch I saw I knew it was there. I knew it was over,” Ouhl said. “I think that tops every other (homer).”

• Prior to Ouhl’s fifth-inning heroics, Lebanon was able to get a plethora of runners on base but had trouble getting them in. In the third inning, Ouhl grounded out to second with two runners on. In the fourth, Lebanon loaded the bases with one out when shortstop Juliana Gonzalez smoked a line-drive right to Miamisburg second baseman Jenna Miller, who caught the ball after an initial bobble and touched second for an inning-ending double play.

Lebanon’s offense jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Reagan Vunak was hit by a pitch, Gonzalez walked and center fielder Ella Teubner ripped an RBI double to center to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Allen’s ground out two batters later scored Gonzalez to make it 2-0. Teubner, the reigning Eastern Cincinnati Conference Player of the Year, went 2-for-4 while seven Warriors had at least one hit.

Looking to add insurance in the seventh inning, Lebanon once again loaded the bases before Allen sent a screaming line drive up the middle that was quickly snatched by Miamisburg reliever Alley Haas. Lebanon left 10 on base for the game.

“I felt like we were taking good at-bats, but just kind of unlucky,” Kindell said. “We hit some balls hard and got nothing to show for it. Those things can be frustrating if you let them. We were going into that batter’s box and taking really good at-bats and sooner or later that’s gonna hold up. Teagan (Ouhl) took care of that.”

The missed opportunities would not come back to haunt Lebanon, thanks to stellar pitching from senior Aubrey Smith.

• Smith, a senior, gave up a two-run home run to Miamisburg pitcher Ryla Zehring in the second inning that tied the game at 2-2. She would go on to retire the next six batters. In the fourth, Haas led off with a double and scored on an RBI single from catcher Izzy Kepple to give Miamisburg a 3-2 lead. Smith responded again, allowing just two baserunners for the remainder of the game to send Lebanon to the Elite Eight.

“Just having confidence in my pitching, having confidence in my defense behind me and just trusting in what I know what I can do and what my teammates can do,” Smith said.

Kindell added: “Aubrey is as tough mentally as they come. If we go down in this tournament, it’s not gonna be from a lack of fight. Aubrey is a team captain, she’s a first-team all-state player and we really feed off her in what we do. You saw it today. Her competitive nature is to go out and fight you until the very end.”

3 keys to Fairfield's win over Milford

Milford starting pitcher Meghan McClellan was coming off a complete-game performance with 13 strikeouts in the Eagles' upset of top-seeded Oak Hills in the district final. The freshman was still in a groove through the first part of the Fairfield batting order, with three consecutive 1-2-3 innings to begin the night.

Fairfield's offense finally broke through in the fourth inning when centerfielder Ava Hensley ripped a lead-off double to left. After Jillian Huey drew a walk, Karley Clark's RBI single gave the Indians a 1-0 lead. Three batters later, Ryleigh Peters laced a two-run double to left-center and Madi Miller followed with a run-scoring groundout to make it 4-0.

Huey would double with one out in the fifth, setting up a two-run blast from Clark, who finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, that made it 6-0.

"For sure, I knew it was gone," Clark said.

Fairfield added a run in the sixth on a Hensley groundout following a pair of Milford throwing errors that made it 7-0.

Fairfield third baseman Abby Stanfield also went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

In the district championship game, Fairfield had to recover from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Centerville, 5-2. It appeared the Indians would have to play from behind Wednesday night after Milford threatened in the early innings. The Eagles had two runners on with one out in the third and had two runners in scoring position with one out in the fourth. Fairfield pitcher Megan Spence made sure they were stranded, though, working out of trouble on both occasions.

The sophomore twirled a complete-game shutout and posted a season-high 12 strikeouts while permitting just three hits and walking one. Spence has now allowed just two earned runs over 21 innings with 20 strikeouts against five walks over the last three playoff games. Wednesday marked the first time Milford had been shut out since April 5, 2019, a span of 96 games.

"I had to battle. They're a good team with their bats, so I knew I had to work through it," Spence said. "My defense was great behind us and our bats were hot. It was just a great experience."

Steiger added: "That's just how she's (Spence) been. She's been terrific and she stays calm. When she gets a cushion like what she got today after we got on the board, she's a lot more confident."

Senior sendoff

Milford, which won a share of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, was in the regional tournament for the first time since 2004. The Eagles finish the season 22-5. Milford's seniors were Callie Allison, Myra Darrah, Avery Fielman, Madi Fugate, Cheruby Herbert and Madelyn Jones.

Fielman was the ECC's home run leader (9) this season and ranked fifth in RBIs (38). Fugate was one of two Eagles to notch a hit on Wednesday with a one-out single in the third. Junior outfielder Isabella Zimmerman doubled twice.

Herbert pitched 1 ⅔ innings out of the bullpen against Fairfield, giving up no hits and one unearned run.

Taylor Yellowjackets fall in Division II regional semifinals

Outside of Division I, Taylor was the last Greater Cincinnati team remaining after the Yellowjackets notched one-run district tournament wins over Badin and Benjamin Logan to capture the program's first-ever district championship.

Taylor's historic season came to an end at a 20-6 record Wednesday after an extra-innings loss to No. 1 Greenville at Wright State University. Taylor's lone hit of the night came in the fourth inning from shortstop Maggie Graham, who later scored on a sacrifice bunt by Karlie Burdick, the team's only senior, that tied the game at 1-1. The game would stay that way until the ninth inning when Greenville scored five times to take a 6-1 advantage.

Taylor pitcher Camrynn Linnemann struck out nine over nine innings.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA: How Lebanon, Fairfield advanced to DI regional championship