ASHLAND — Girls district softball rolls into action Monday for a pair of Ashland-area squads.
Both top-seeded Hillsdale and No. 3 Loudonville will play in the Akron district semifinals Monday afternoon. The Falcons take on No. 4 Cuyahoga Heights at 4:30 p.m., while the Redbirds meet No. 2 Mogadore at 6:15 p.m.
Hillsdale advanced with a 14-0 win over No. 11 Our Lady of the Elms, while Cuyahoga Heights stopped No. 9 Lake Center Christian 6-1. In the bottom half of the district bracket, Loudonville beat No. 5 Canton Central Catholic 11-1, while Mogadore held off No. 7 Columbia 2-1.
In Division I, seventh-seeded Ashland will take on No. 2 Holland Springfield at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Toledo. The Arrows, who won their first Ohio Cardinal Conference title since 2014 this year, advanced with an 11-1 win over No. 13 Fremont Ross as pitcher Brandilyn Reymer broke Ashland’s career record for strikeouts.
Elsewhere in the area, Lady Lex will look to complete the sweep this week — but it won’t be easy.
Top-seeded Lexington will take on No. 4 Madison in the early game of a Division II district semifinal doubleheader at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Willard. No. 6 Clear Fork will play No. 2 Bellevue in the late game.
Lexington beat Madison twice earlier this month in Ohio Cardinal Conference action, winning 5-1 and 10-5. The Rams are the defending district champs.
Lexington (19-4) advanced to the district semifinals with a 7-1 win over No. 10 Galion in last week’s sectional final. Jillian Bammann went the distance, striking out nine while giving up four hits. Bammann helped her own cause with a pair of hits.
The Rams (12-10) dispatched Mansfield Senior 21-0 in the sectional finals. Bailey Lyons belted a pair of home runs in the fourth inning and drove in five runs.
Clear Fork pulled off the biggest upset in the first work of the tournament, knocking off No. 3 Ontario 4-3 in the sectional finals. The Colts scored all four of their runs in the fifth, with Renee Anders delivering a two-run double.
Bellevue needed 10 innings to knock off No. 5 Shelby 1-0.
In the Division IV Northwest district tournament, No. 4 Plymouth will take on No. 2 South Central at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Galion. The Big Red beat No. 9 Seneca East 6-0 in the sectional finals, while South Central roughed up No. 8 Vanlue 15-0.
