Kylie Eastep's heroics lift River Valley to a softball district title
· Yahoo Sports
Kylie Eastep did what Kylie Eastep does.
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With her team down a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, the River Valley junior hit a walkoff home run to lift the second-seeded Vikings to a 7-6 victory over No. 3 seed Buckeye Valley for a Division IV softball district championship at Marysville May 24.
"My mindset with so many of our girls and especially Sam (Woods) and Kylie, when they go up 3-0 (in the count), I have full confidence for them to have the green light," RV coach Ryan Murphy said. "That’s what Kylie’s deal was. She always has that green light no matter what the count is. She obviously did what she does best for us and come through in the clutch."
The game featured five lead changes with two in the seventh inning. Besides Eastep, Woods was hit by a pitch to leadoff the seventh and set the table for her teammate. Woods added a double in the game as did Chloe Addis and Liv Collins. Londyn Daniels and Harper Rodgers both singled twice. Eastep pitched, striking out 12, walking six and allowing 10 hits.
"When I first got the job, I noticed we had these great leaders with Sam and Kylie and Kameron (Fowler). All the seniors we have have been very good," Murphy said.
It is River Valley's first softball district title since 2001, which only added to the dramatics. The victory sends them to the D-IV regional in Centerville Wednesday, May 27 at 5 p.m. where the Vikes (19-7), ranked seventh in the state, will play Cleves Taylor (20-3) in a semifinal. In the 2 p.m. semifinal, top-ranked Kenton Ridge (28-0) faces Carlisle (22-7).
Taylor beat Indian Lake 6-0 in its district final on May 25 in Xenia.
"They have a very, very good pitcher," Murphy said of junior Ellie Stafford who is 16-3 with a 0.61 ERA, 210 strikeouts and just 11 walks. "She is well known around the Cincinnati area. She had 14 strikeouts today. She’s definitely the heart of their team just like Kylie is for us. It’s going to be a very good pitchers dual."
Taylor bats .422 as a team, scoring 272 runs and allowing just 28 runs all season. In its last seven games, it has given up just four runs. Taylor also has 113 steals. RV counters by batting .344 with 200 runs and 122 runs allowed, stealing 31 bases.
"At the plate, we’ve got to be patient and get out pitch and hopefully we come out on top," Murphy said.
In a Saturday night district final in Division VI, top seed Danville edged No. 5 Cardington 3-0 at Berne Union.
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Dramatic finish lifts River Valley to an OHSAA district softball title