LABRAE STRIKES BACK TO LOCK IN REGIONAL APPEARANCE

WELLINGTON OH- Don’t call it a comeback—unless you’re talking about LaBrae’s wild rally to take down Columbiana 11-5 and lock up the district title on Friday.

Things looked rough early. Columbiana jumped all over the Vikings in the top of the first, with Cameron Perkins launching a three-run bomb and Landry Smith knocking in two more. Just like that, LaBrae was staring down a 5-0 hole.

But the Vikings didn’t blink. Riley Rowe sparked the charge with a triple in the second and didn’t stop there. The lefty went 3-for-3 on the night, adding a single in the first and another in the sixth. Leah DeArmitt followed suit with a clutch RBI knock to tie things up by the end of the second.

Shelby Bragg broke the deadlock in the fourth, dropping a go-ahead single to put LaBrae in front for good. Then the floodgates opened in the sixth—five runs on four hits, highlighted by DeArmitt driving in another run, Morgan Thompson’s two-run double, and Vada Allen’s RBI single.

Rowe got it done in the circle, too. She went the distance, punching out 11 and giving up just five runs—all unearned—across seven gritty innings.

LaBrae’s offense was dialed in all game, racking up 12 hits. DeArmitt, Rowe, and Allen each had three knocks, with DeArmitt and Allen both racking up three RBIs.

Perkins was a bright spot for the Clippers, going 2-for-4 and driving in three, but it wasn’t enough to hold off LaBrae’s surge. With the win, the Vikings snag the district title and move on to regionals, where they’ll meet Akron Manchester in the next round.