Page 16 - The Buzz 05/15/2026

B4 | SPORTS The MAY 15 - 28, 2026
Tri-Valley wraps up regular season play and heads to

Steubenville Monday to dive into playoffs BY MATTHEW DOTSON | THE BUZZ

Scotties hitter Parker Shaffer finds a pitch he likes. Matthew Dotson

Vs. West Muskingum (5/13) to lock in the final 14 – 5 victory over
On the road in Tornado country on Marietta.
Wednesday, the Scotties stepped
onto the field ready to play. The mo- Vs. New Philadelphia (5/9)
mentum for the game stalled for the The Quakers stopped by Kenny
first three innings while the teams Wolford Park on Saturday. One inning
warmed up their batting order. In the in, and neither team had touched the
top of the fourth inning, the Scotties scoreboard, New Phila took the first
got out to a 1 – 0 lead after gaining run in the top of the second inning to
a run. West M answered back with lead 1 – 0. Once they had the recipe,
the tying run in the bottom of the in- they opened their batting order with
ning, 1 – 1. Tri-Valley took the lead six runs in the top of the third, and
back with a run in the top of the four in the top of the fourth to lead
sixth inning, 2 – 1. They held onto 11 – 0. The Scottie’s sole run came
the advantage until the bottom of in the bottom of the inning, and with
the seventh inning, when the Torna- two more runs in the top of the fifth,
does pumped out the tying run, and the Quakers logged a 13 – 1 win
added a walk-off winning run to take against Tri-Valley.
the game 3 – 2.
Vs. West Holmes (5/8)
Vs. Marietta (5/11) Tri-Valley didn’t seem weary from The Dawgs Alex Patterson slid into first as John Glenn tried to get the tag. Matthew Dotson
The Dawgs traveled to Marietta on the bus ride to Millersburg on Fri- lineup to put five runs on the board Tri-Valley added a run to their advan-
Monday to face the Tigers. Mariet- day, as they started the game with a to increase their lead to 7 – 0. Tri-Val- tage, 6 – 3. After two runs by the
ta took a 1 – 0 lead after gaining a three-run first inning to take the lead. ley answered back with two runs in Muskies in the bottom of the inning,
run in the bottom of the first inning. While holding the Knights at bay, the the top of the third, and two more in Tri-Valley shut them down with a 6 –
Tri-Valley answered back at the top Dawgs added a run to their advan- the top of the fifth, but still trailed 5 win in game one of the series.
of the second inning with a three- tage in the top of the third, and four 7 – 4. Both teams had a matching
run stint to lead 3 – 1. Marietta add- more in the top of the sixth to lead 8 one-run sixth inning, which solidified In game two, back at home for the
ed another run to their tally in the – 0. The Knights grabbed a run in the the Panthers 8 – 5 victory. Scotties, the Dawgs took the 1 – 0
bottom of the next inning, but still bottom of the sixth, and three in the lead in the first inning, punching it
trailed by one going into the fourth bottom of the seventh, but it was not Vs. John Glenn (5/4, 5/5) up to 2 – 1 after two innings. John
inning, where the Scotties came to enough to surpass the Scotties, who In New Concord on Monday, the Glenn tied the game in the top of the
life thanks to a couple of singles and took the 9 – 4 win. Scotties and the Lil’ Muskies were fourth, but Tri-Valley answered back
a triple by Lawler that gave them neck-and-neck from the start, with with two runs to take back the lead
a six-run, 9 – 2 advantage. The Ti- Vs. Maysville (5/7) one run each in the first inning, then 4 – 2. The Dawgs added three runs in
gers put together three runs in the The Panthers hosted the Dawgs two runs each in the third inning, be- the bottom of the fifth to lead 7 – 2.
bottom of the fifth inning, but could on Thursday, and after a quick three fore the Dawgs jumped out ahead in Despite a narrow sixth and seventh
not break through with more, as the outs the nabbed two runs to take the the top of the fourth with two, to lead inning run streak by the Lil’ Muskies,
Scotties capped their lead with five 2 – 0 lead. In the bottom of the sec- 5 – 3. The teams continued to battle they still fell to the Scotties 8 – 7 for
more runs in the top of the seventh ond inning, Maysville opened up the through to the top of the sixth when the two-game sweep.

Muskingum softball team headed to Pennsylvania for NCAA

Regional play BY MATTHEW DOTSON | THE BUZZ

es, my teammates. They all push me,
and they all get me to where I need
to be. I work with Coach Markham a
lot, who is our pitching coach, and
she’s always back here in the bull-
pen working on things with me, fixing
my spins, and helping me.”
The Garnet were more of a chal-
lenge for Muskingum in game two,
as the offense didn’t break through
Swarthmore’s pitching until the bot-
tom of the fourth inning, when senior
Cara Taylor reached and was driven
home by a bunt from sophomore Ka-
sey Timko for the 1 – 0 lead.
“I think as a team we’ve just learned
that we play the best when we’re hav-
ing fun, and I know that goes for me
personally, too. I’m not out there wor-
ried about my performance because
I know that Bethany has my back, or
Fighting Muskies softball team marked 26 season trip to NCAA playoffs. Matthew Dotson whoever else is going to go out there
and have my back. So when we’re
The Muskingum University softball “We have obviously won a lot of what it is, I think, is definitely our all out there having fun, we play our
team made its second NCAA Region- games. I think the best part of this biggest challenge. It’s just trusting best, we play relaxed, and in the end,
al appearance in the last three years season is the fight that our team has our gameplay and what has gotten that’s when we’re scoring our runs,
on Friday in Swarthmore, Pennsylva- shown. We haven’t always played the us here, and just letting loose and and we’re finding those wins,” stat-
nia. cleanest softball, but we’ve never having fun,” stated Muskingum Uni- ed Cara Taylor, Muskingum’s center
Game one pitted the Fighting given up on ourselves. And so we’ve versity’s Softball Head Coach Laina fielder, OAC Player of the Year 2026
Muskies against Messiah. After fall- had a lot of late-game comebacks, Connor. and First Team All-OAC.
ing behind 2 – 0 early on, Musking- six-to-seven-inning comebacks Pitching for the Muskies in game Swarthmore tied up the score
um came back in the third inning to where we’ve had to score five runs, one was provided by Junior Bethany in the sixth inning and added a go-
tie up the game 2 – 2. The Falcons and we’ve been able to put that up. Rodman, who pitched one inning ahead run in the top of the seventh.
grabbed a run in the bottom of the And just to see the refusal to lose with 3 hits and 2 runs. Freshman In the bottom of the inning, the
inning to get back out in front 3 – 2. has been really, really cool. Youth [is Dani Wrigth pitched four innings Muskies had the tying run on second
It didn’t faze the Muskies as they our biggest challenge]. We have a lot with 1 run on 7 hits and one walk. base with one out, but were unable
pumped out two runs in each of the of young players who haven’t been First Team All-OAC pitcher Betha- to bring them in, falling to Swarth-
next two innings and topped the lead here before. And so just being able ny Rodman said, “My driving force more and ending their season.
with five runs in the top of the sixth to play, compete, and have fun and would be everybody in my life. It
to lock in the 11 – 3 win. not make the moment bigger than would be God, my family, my coach-