BV, PHS and Hall, SBA to meet in regional openers

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Area girls are fine tuning their games this week as they anticipate next week’s softball regional.

It will be the first round of four-class system with LaMoille and Ohio playing in 1A and Hall, Bureau Valley,  Princeton and St. Bede in 2A. The new format has rivals BV and Princeton and Hall and St. Bede meeting in regional openers.

AFC 1A Regional

In 1A softball action, both LaMoille (No. 8) and Ohio (No. 10) head to the Ashton-Franklin Center Regional. Ohio takes on A-FC at 4:30 p.m. Monday with the winner facing top-seeded Indian Creek at the same time on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, La-Moille (5-21) takes on No. 3 seed Serena at 4:30 p.m. The two winners from Tuesday/Wednesday will face each other at 11 a.m. May 17.

“We played Serena tough earlier this year, losing 10-6,” Lady Lions coach Fred Bell said. “We have had trouble this season with passed balls, errors and letting runners go wild. If we can limit that, I like our chances against Serena.”

Plano 2A Regional

The opening round of the Plano regional will be an exciting one as St. Bede (19-10, No. 4) takes on rival Hall (15-9, No. 5) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Lady Bruins have beaten the Lady Red Devils twice this season, 8-5 and 6-3. Hall will be looking to turn the tables on the Lady Bruins.

“We have to make the routine plays,” Hall coach Pete Kasperski said. “In both games against St. Bede we gave up a big inning, and we have to avoid that. St. Bede has not seen Claire Faletti pitch in either of the games, so hopefully, that’s an advantage for us.”

On the other side of the fence, the Lady Bruins have their hands full, as it’s never easy beating a team three times in one year.

“We’ve been playing well lately,” St. Bede coach Fr. Phillip said. “If we can limit the mistakes, we’ll be OK. We’re hitting .300 as a team and have been getting good defense and pitching.”

Bureau Valley 2A Regional

While Mother Nature has caused No. 7 Bureau Valley (5-16) and No. 8 Princeton (7-14) to cancel the past two years, this game will have to be played one way or another as it’s regional time now.

“Yeah, we haven’t had the chance to play Princeton the last couple of years,” Storm coach Brian Humphrey said. “I did see them play though, and right now, they are playing some very good softball. We’re going to have our hands full, that’s for sure.”

Princeton gave Chillicothe IVC a scare recently and will be out to prove that they are better than their seed indicates.

“We’re seeded eighth out of 10 teams (in the sectional),” Princeton head coach Bob James said. “We’re the lowest seed going into regional, and we’re going to use that as motivation for the kids. I think were playing much better than what that seed reflects. We’re right here with everybody. We’ve achieved a lot already.”

Humphrey knows his team will have to get the bats going if they want to get past he Tigresses.

“That’s been our biggest obstacle all season,” Humphrey said. “We have to hit and play defense if we want to win.”

James is very happy with how his team has been playing lately, and is looking forward to the game against the Storm.

“Our pitching is as good as anyone. Biggest thing, I think, will be defense,” James said.

The winner of this game will face No. 2 seed Orion at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus contributed to this article

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