SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — As the No. 1 seed in the Division III Northmont softball sectional, West Liberty-Salem chose its destination, and watched as the remaining teams did the same.

The next five seeds decided to give the Tigers some space, and chose games in a different bracket.

It was the ultimate compliment paid to the Tigers, who just completed a 14-0 Ohio Heritage Conference record, are ranked No. 2 in the D-III state coaches poll and are 22-0.

The Tigers will host No. 10 seed Preble Shawnee at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 14.

"We're pleased with our draw. We feel like that's a good place for us to start," WLS head coach Lanay Detwiler said.

The Tigers were bumped up to D-III this season after several years as a D-IV team. New tournament competition in the form of Middletown Madison (No. 1 seed in the Dayton sectional), Brookville (No. 2, Northmont sectional) and Northeastern (No. 3, Northmont sectional) could be in their future.

"It's a fresh look and we don't know all the teams," Detwiler said. "It gives us a different look, but (moving up is) fine."

The new competition likely won't see many bats like the Tigers have: sophomore Abbey Ledford leads the Springfield area with a .651 batting average. Haleigh Hickenbottom is batting .521. Pitcher Emily Kauffman is 18-0 with a 0.60 ERA.

To stay sharp for the tournament, the Tigers scheduled six games this week, including a doubleheader Saturday.

"Every game you play, it's one game closer to the postseason," Detwiler said. "You're trying to refine things and tweak things and make changes."

Other sectionals

• Kenton Ridge (14-6) is the No. 2 seed and Northwestern (21-3) is the No. 3 seed in the Division II Urbana sectional. If they both advance to the sectional final, they could play May 17.

Indian Lake is the No. 1 seed in the sectional, grouped with No. 6 seed Urbana (11-9) and No. 7 seed Shawnee (12-6).

• Triad is the No. 2 seed in the D-IV Sidney sectional. The fifth-ranked Cardinals (13-9), two-time state finalists, are in the same bracket as No. 4 seed Russia, but missed No. 1 seed Ansonia and No. 3 Houston.

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