CENTERVILLE — River Valley had two rallies in it, but the Vikings needed a third as unranked Cleves Taylor held off the Vikes 10-9 in a Division IV regional semifinal softball game.
“It’s hard for our girls to lose this way, but they just never give up,” RV coach Ryan Murphy said. “That’s what I love about this team. It is resilient. That’s been our word all year. We just came up short.”
Ranked seventh in the last D-IV state coaches poll, the Vikings found themselves trailing Taylor 4-0 after two innings. However, RV (19-8) strung together five hits, including three doubles in a row from Samantha Woods, Kylie Eastep and Chloe Addis to take a 5-4 lead in the top of the third.
The Yellow Jackets (21-3) answered with a six-run fourth inning to take a 10-5 lead, but River Valley came right back with four runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a pair of Taylor errors and a two-run double off the left-field fence by Emerson Isom.
But at 10-9, there were no more rallies. Neither team recorded a hit after the middle of the fifth inning.
“They’re a very good team over there. That girl (pitcher Ellie Stafford) has dominated everybody. This is the first team that has hit her. I’m proud of our girls,” Murphy said.
Stafford finished with 14 strikeouts and three walks as RV ended with 10 hits. Kylie Eastep pitched for the Vikes, striking out 11, walking 11 and allowing eight hits.
It was the first time River Valley played in a softball regional since 2001.
“The senior class is definitely going to be missed,” Murphy said. “They were very good leaders and very good ball players. I told our girls out there to take this in for the girls who are coming back next year and use it for motivation and be ready to go.”
Taylor returns to Centerville today, May 29 at 5 p.m. to face top-ranked Kenton Ridge, a Final Four team the last two seasons. Kenton Ridge is 29-0 after beating Carlisle 2-1 in the first game played Thursday.
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: River Valley, Taylor meet up in a high-scoring regional softball game