Western Brown freshman Sydni Barnes fires in a strike during her perfect pitching performance in the Lady Broncos’ May 10 sectional tourney win over Mt. Healthy.

Sizer finishes four-for-four at the bat – 

By Wade Linville – 

Western Brown High School’s head softball coach Blaine Wallace couldn’t have asked for much more out of his No. 1 seeded Lady Broncos on Wednesday in round one of the Southwest District Division II Sectional Tournament with freshman Sydni Barnes pitching a perfect game and some big hits coming from the offense to claim a 15-0 victory over the visiting No. 13 seed of Mt. Healthy.
“I was happy (with today’s performance) because the last game we played against Middletown Madison, mentally and emotionally, we just weren’t there. We showed more enthusiasm today, and when we do that we’re pretty good,” Wallace said following the win over Mt. Healthy.
Barnes finished her perfect game in the pitcher’s circle with 12 strikeouts in a bout that ended by mercy rule in the fifth inning.
Junior Mary Sizer was among the top hitters of the day, cranking out four hits in four at-bats that included a triple, two doubles, and a single.
Western Brown junior Riese Peters went two-for-two at the bat with a double and a homerun.
Sophomore first baseman Liz Hadley cranked out three hits in four at-bats with a home run, a single, and a double.
Junior Tessa Pinkerton swung for one hit in two at-bats with a double.
In her first ever varsity at-bat, Western Brown freshman Madison Derose hammered out a home run when coming in to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Barnes struck out the side to hold Mt. Healthy run-less in the top of the first inning, and the Lady Bronco bats were swinging for the fences in the bottom of the first.
Barnes took a base-on-balls while leading off the bottom of the first. Pinkerton fell victim to a fly out, but it was a triple by Sizer that would bring Barnes home to give the Lady Broncos a 1-0 lead.
What followed was a two-run homer over the fence in left-center by Hadley to up the Lady Bronco lead to 3-0.
Western sophomore Lexi Wallace and freshman Jade Jones each reached base on walks, and with two on and two out it was Peters blasting a double to the fence in right-center field to drive in two more runs, expanding the Lady Bronco lead to 5-0.
Sophomore Reagan Henderson cranked out a run-scoring double to leave Mt. Healthy trailing by six, and then it was Barnes coming through with a run-scoring single to lift Western to a 7-0 advantage.
The hitting frenzy continued with Pinkerton hammering out a double to the fence in left-center to bring home another run.
In her second at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, Sizer singled to drive in another Lady Bronco run, widening the margin to nine runs.
Hadley swung for a single to bring home another run before the first inning reached an end, and entering the top of the second it was the Lady Broncos with a 10-0 lead.
Barnes continued her domination at the pitcher’s circle in the innings that followed, striking out two of three batters she faced in the second inning, striking three straight batters in the third inning, and striking out four of the six batters she faced in the fourth and fifth innings combined.
The Lady Broncos, who finished their regular season as Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference American Division champs for the fifth straight year, stood at an overall record of 15-4 following the sectional win over Mt. Healthy.
The Lady Broncos advanced to round two of sectional play with Wednesday’s win and were scheduled to face No. 14 seed Indian Hill (0-11 at the time of the tournament draw) on May 11 at Western Brown High School.