Reliever Lucy Bennett celebrates after the final out as the Jags punch their ticket to the state final for the first time. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
Nine-hole hitter Aubrey Allen and reliever Lucy Bennett were among the unsung heroes who helped well-rounded Bradley advance to its first state tournament under 41st-year coach Kevin Moody.
Sunbury, OH – Owning the tag “role player” is not something most athletes relish. Being referred to as an ace, slugger, speedster or stopper sounds much more like a glowing compliment.
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But every successful team, regardless of the sport, has a handful of those role players, or glue players if you will, who can provide the edge needed to win championships.
Hall Of Fame softball coach Kevin Moody, in his 41st season leading three Hilliard programs, knows this all too well and couldn’t help touting the efforts of two non-superstar types who helped Hilliard Bradley beat Gahanna 9-5 in a Division I regional championship game Friday at sun-soaked Big Walnut.
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The Jaguars (25-5), ranked second in the state coaches and MaxPreps power polls, will face sixth-ranked Centerville (24-7) in their first state tournament appearance at 12:30 p.m. June 3 at Firestone Stadium in Akron. The title game will be the following day at 3 p.m.
Bradley’s nine-hole hitter, junior right fielder Aubrey Allen, and senior first baseman/relief pitcher Lucy Bennett were two of the unsung heroes who delivered when it mattered most.
Allen delivered an RBI triple and scored in the Jags’ two-run second inning that gave them a 4-0 lead. Later, she kick-started a decisive four-run sixth inning with an RBI single and another run.
“Gee whiz, Audrey had a big game,” Moody said. “Most of the season, we haven’t had her swinging away but she has earned that right as the season has gone along. She was the prototypical slap and bunt type hitter who we relied on to move runners along as a bridge to our most dangerous hitters. Now, she’s a true triple threat.”
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The diminutive Allen, who was serenaded with chants of “half-pint” from a family friend whenever she came to the plate, has hiked her batting average to .338 with two triples, five doubles and 18 RBI.
Bradley junior pitcher Mickey Moody (12-1, 1.60 ERA) winds and delivers during the early innings in the regional final against Gahanna.
“I’m so small, teams usually creep on me thinking I’m going to bunt or slap, so I feel like I have to keep them honest and prove them wrong,” Allen said.
In the top of the Gahanna sixth with Bradley clinging to a 6-3 lead, Moody pulled his ace, junior daughter Mickey Moody (12-1, 1.60 ERA), and inserted Bennett, a lanky left-handler, whose role primarily was that of a third starter or reliever.
After hitting the first batter, Bennett fought out of a major jam by retiring three straight Lions. Bradley then responded with its six-run outburst.
“They were starting to time Mickey up and I felt like Lucy offered a change of pace,” Kevin Moody said. “I had all the faith in the world she’d come through. She’s been very reliable in that role all season. The way she shut them down really gave us a big boost at a key point in the game.”
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Bennett, who earned her fifth save in 21 appearances, admittedly was a tad nervous when Moody called her number.
Hilliard Bradley’s Taylor Nicholson and Avery Zwilling pause and enjoy the moment after a hard-fought game against the Lions. But come tomorrow, it’s back to work in pursuit of the first softball state title in school history.
“We’re trained to always be ready but when you’re called on to pitch in the regional championship game in front of all those people, of course the nerves were up,” Bennett said. “Hitting the first batter didn’t help matters much, but I buckled down and got the job done. I’m a bit more of a down-spin pitcher and I sort of specialize in getting a lot of ground balls. My defense bailed me out there.”
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Lainey Dennison had three hits and three RBI and Sammie Moody added two hits for the Jags.
Ten batters came to the plate in the sixth when Bradley parlayed four hits, two walks and three Gahanna errors into four runs.
“I can think of a lot of key sequences that helped us get the win today,” Kevin Moody said. “We made a couple of mistakes but didn’t let the situation compound.”
The opposite held true for Gahanna (23-6), which simply was not as sharp as its counterpart.
“Being (regional runner-up) for the second straight year leaves a bad taste in our mouth, especially since we had much higher expectations with this group,” Lions coach Matt Bailey said.
“Our defense, which had been great all year, struggled in the tournament. We did not adapt to the college strike zone they use in the regional finals. The bottom line is they made more clutch plays and hits than we did. They definitely won in that department.”
Bella Costa hit a two-run homer – her 14th of the season – in the seventh but it was too little too late for Gahanna. Senior shortstop Kira Bailey collected two hits and stole two bases, overtaking her older sister Kirnan for the single-season record of 76, leaving her third in the state record book.
Kevin Moody, who guided Hilliard Darby to a state championship in 2000 and a second appearance in 2009, will be guiding Bradley – a program he founded in 2010 – to its first final four.
“This is just huge for us,” Allen said. “We’ve had a really strong program for many years and this is a just reward for all of our hard work and the connection we have as a group.”
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