May 20, 1999

Lakota advances to district softball title game

By Chris Homan
Sports Writer

OLD FORT -- It wasn't something plate umpire George Fretz did intentionally, but he tried to ring up Buckeye Central's Mandi Tesh one strike too soon in the fifth inning.

It wasn't as if Lakota hurler Ashley Lockmiller needed the help. The rocket-armed sophomore was right on target in the Raiders' district semifinal matchup with the Buckettes.

Lockmiller, who fanned nine batters in all, gave up a pair of singles to BC's Alesha Huffman, but the rest of the lineup went hitless as Lakota advanced to the district championship game against Old Fort with a 4-0 blanking Wednesday.

"Lockmiller's best pitch was her strikes," said Lakota catcher Jenni Bomer, who also had the game's only extra base hit with a double. "She was really on tonight, especially her fastball.

"Their (BC) coach was trying to make his girls wait for bad pitches, but they we're good, real good," she said. "She just kept bringing them in there. She did a good job today."

It was Bomer who got things going from the plate. Her two-bagger in the fourth, combined with a single from Crystal Miller and a pair of BC errors, opened the door for Lakota's first two runs.

The mishap bug would bite the Bucks again in the fifth.

An error put Maria Lowery on the bases to lead off the inning and a single by Jamie Ray that was misplayed by the Buckettes left fielder made it a 3-0 game.

Two straight infield throwing quirks then made it the final as Ray made her way around to home.

"I thought Jenni Bomer's hit really got us going," Lakota coach Jan Stoudinger said. "We expect that kind of thing from her &emdash; she's our only senior. After that hit the rest of the girls seemed to pick things up. We just went from there.

"We're in the district finals now and that was our goal from the beginning of this season," she said. "Ashley (Lockmiller) stepped in there today and she was confident. She has Jenni (Bomer) back there catching her. It helps to get good pitching, but it is also helps to have a defense behind her."

Miller had a pair of singles for the Raiders, who improved to 20-4 with the win. Renee Chaney and Jessica Rupright also smacked singles for Lakota, who now faces a tough challenge from Old Fort.

"Old Fort is a very good team, but right now our confidence is pretty good as a team" Stoudinger said. "If we get down, we feel we can come back. Old Fort can pitch and they can hit. They're tough. We know it's going to be a heck of a game."

With or without a little help.