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REGIONAL SOFTBALL DIVISION II PREVIEW

Urbana goes West for success

It's been a year since Urbana took the Division II softball world by storm.

On the arm of then sophomore pitcher Tara West, the Hillclimbers came from nowhere to make the D-II regional finals only to lose to Hamilton Ross 9-1. Now, Urbana is back and looking to get to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

To do that, it first must get past Columbus Whitehall (18-11) in a regional semifinal today at 5 p.m. at Northmont High School. A win there sets up a possible rematch with Ross or powerhouse Greenville, down from D-I for the first time this season.

But is this the Hillclimbers' year?

It all depends on how well they play defense.

"Definitely that is our No. 1 priority," Hillclimbers coach Tim West said. "We've had zero errors in our last two games and that has been the reason for our success."

That's good news for an Urbana team that struggled heading into the tournament. A couple of infield throwing errors that led to a Tipp City comeback cost Urbana a Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail title in a week that saw the Hillclimbers lose three times for the first time all season.

The Rams are no slouch. Pitcher Lauren Beatty, a sophomore, has given up just one run in her last two tournament games, including a five-hit shutout in the Rams' upset win over powerhouse DeSales.

"The key for us is going to be how well we hit the ball," Whitehall coach Lisa Morelli said. "We have good pitching and our defense is solid. But our hitting is sporadic."

The Hillclimbers have no problem there. Morelli said she is well aware of how Urbana likes to hit.

As for Whitehall's hitting prospects, West was 18-4 with a 0.33 ERA during the regular season. She struck out 188 batters in 147.1 innings of work. She's allowed just two earned in three postseason games.

And though the old adage is good pitching beats good hitting, in this game it will be more about limiting mistakes than getting base hits. And that goes for base running, too.

"We went through a bunch of game situations, putting runners on in game situations," West said. "We try to put them under high pressure situations. It's like Yogi Berra once said it's '90 percent mental and the other half is physical.' "