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Warren earns share of Region 6 title

ERIE – The Lady Dragons wrapped up a share of the Region 6 title on Thursday, but they had to work to do it.

After Villa Maria rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth, the two teams battled into extra innings before Warren broke out for four runs in the top of the ninth, going on to win by a final score of 7-3.

In what head coach Mark Bupp called “a gut-check win,” the Lady Dragons had to work their way out of bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh just to get the game into extras.

“It was a great team win because everyone throughout the lineup contributed,” Bupp said. “It wasn’t one of our better efforts, but we did what we needed to do and took advantage of the opportunities we had … We had to work a little extra for it, but it was a quality win for us.”

Tied at 3-3 going into the ninth inning, Maddie Loutzenhiser led off with a single, Paige Wilson walked and both runners moved up a base on a passed ball. When Megan Wortman hit a grounder to the left side, Loutzenhiser wasted no time breaking for home and forced a late throw from the Villa infielder.

Loutzenhiser was safe for the go-ahead run, and Wilson was able to advance to third on the play.

Wortman stole second to set up Rachel Wilson with runners on second and third, and the sophomore came through with a clutch two-RBI triple to deep right-center field. Wilson then scored herself on a passed ball to make it 7-3.

“Rachel had the big bat today,” Bupp said. “She did a fantastic job working the count to her favor in that last at-bat.”

Rachel Wilson also had an RBI in the top of the third when a fly ball behind second base dropped in to bring home a run. Earlier in the inning, Celia Chase had singled and Kathryn Lobdell reached on an error, and both were able to score on passed balls. Chase was 3-for-5 to lead the Lady Dragons at the plate while Lobdell officially went 1-for-1.

“Kathryn had three sacrifice bunts to move runners into scoring position – in the playoffs, having someone who can do that is going to be important,” added Bupp. “And defensively, Maddie Loutzenhiser and Kathryn Lobdell both played very solid games.”

Paige Wilson and Wortman both had a pair of hits in the win with Wilson adding a triple to deep left that Bupp noted would have likely been a home run at most fields in the area.

Ellie Lobdell went all nine innings in the circle for Warren and held Villa to just five hits. The Victors’ three runs all came in the bottom of the sixth – Bailey Polach brought one in on a bloop single to shallow right, another scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Brooklyn Wisniewski, and the final run came home when Allison Snider’s fly ball was dropped in the outfield.

Lobdell and the Lady Dragon defense escaped that jam and another in the seventh, then tightened up until the bats had an opportunity to win the game. Warren finishes the regular season with an overall record of 15-3 and a 7-1 mark in Region 6. The Lady Dragons’ only loss in league play came in the first of two meetings with co-champion General McLane on April 27.

WARREN (7): Wood, cf, 4-0-0-0, Loutzenhiser, 1b, 4-2-1-0, P. Wilson, c, 3-1-2-0, Cecco, cr, 0-0-0-0, Wortman, ss, 4-1-2-0, R. Wilson, 3b, 3-1-1-3, Hoffman, lf, 5-0-0-0, E. Lobdell, p, 5-0-0-0, Chase, rf, 5-1-3-0, K. Lobdell, 2b, 1-1-1-0. Totals 34-7-10-3.

VILLA MARIA (3): Osiecki, p, 5-1-2-0, Perez, cf, 0-0-0-0, Luteran, ss, 1-1-0-0, Conklin, cf-p, 4-1-1-0, Polach, 2b, 3-0-1-1, Wisniewski, c, 5-0-0-1, Snider, 3b, 4-0-0-0, Whitman, rf, 4-0-0-0, Jarrett, 1b, 4-0-1-0, Kuhar, lf, 4-0-0-0, Owens, lf, 0-0-0-0. Totals 34-3-5-2.

Warren 003 000 004 – 7 10 2

Villa Maria 000 003 000 – 3 5 1

2B – Chase (W). 3B – P. Wilson (W), R. Wilson (W). WP – E. Lobdell. LP – Osiecki.

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