MILAN — Pitching and defense has always traveled in any level of softball or baseball, especially in the postseason. It’s simple, if you can prevent the other team from scoring runs, you’ll have a good chance to grab a victory.

That was the story on Monday for the Lady Braves, who shutdown Southwestern (Hanover) 3-0, behind a combined shutout from Rylee May and Kelsey Schneider on the mound. The senior duo combined for 14 strikeouts during the course of the game.

Brownstown Head Coach Darren Bryant spoke on the performance from his team on Monday.

“We told the girls heading into the tournament that sometimes your hitting ‘comes and goes’ but if your pitching and defense stays solid, you’ll have a chance to win every game,” Bryant said. “That’s what we had tonight, solid pitching and defense.”

Brownstown could have easily scored some more runs, but solid defense from Southwestern limited the damage for the Braves.

“We hit the ball hard tonight, but they made plays throughout,” he said. We had some chances to get more runs, but overall I was pleased and I don’t think we had any errors.”

The Rebels almost scored in the first inning. Southwestern’s Ashley Fulton kicked the game off with a single before Chloey Leach doubled, looking to score Fulton.

Brownstown’s Sophia Wayt grabbed the ball and fired it to Schneider, who relayed it to Olivia Justice at the plate, tagging Fulton out to prevent the run from scoring. The play was ‘huge’ for the Braves according to Coach Bryant.

“The out at home in the first inning set the tone for our defense was going to play during the game,” he said. “It made a big difference in momentum for the game.”

May picked up the win for her performance on the mound, pitching four innings allowing four hits, no runs and striking out seven batters. She spoke on the performance.

“I was able to hit my spots, I didn’t throw many balls during the game, which was good, sometimes I struggle with that,” May said.

The senior also spoke about the offensive output from the team on Monday evening.

“I feel like we could’ve hit better, but we’ve struggled with slow pitching this year,” May said. “She was a good pitcher and hit her spots well throughout the game.”

Brooke Meahl and Justice led the team in hits with two each. Schneider, May, Kyndle Huddleston, Alex Davidson and Emily Dillman recorded the other hits.

Dillman led the team in RBI’s with two. Dillman singled to centerfield to score Lyla Huffman and Davidson in the bottom of the fourth inning.

May spoke about some keys for the team to continue advancing in the 2023-24 IHSAA Class 2A Softball State Tournament.

“Keep working on our hitting, once we start hitting we can get on a roll and drive a lot of runs in,” May said. “We’re pretty solid on the base paths, but we’ve got to be more consistent in getting on. I think that will help us out a lot.”

Coach Bryant also spoke on some keys for the team.

“The biggest thing is our defense, each time we’ve gotten beat we’ve made some errors,” he said. “When we play solid defense, we don’t give up a lot of runs and our pitchers have to keep the ball in the ballpark.”

“We’re going to be facing some big hitters as we move on, if we can keep the ball in the park, I believe in our defense and I believe they’ll make the plays necessary,” Bryant finished.

Brownstown Central will face South Ripley tonight at 5:30 p.m in the semifinal. The game will take place at Milan High School with the winner playing in the Sectional Final on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online for at the door with cash for 7$.

Southwestern (Hanover) (15-9) vs. Brownstown Central (15-11)

Southwestern; 0

Brownstown; 3

Hits: Brownstown — Meahl, Justice, (2); Schneider, May, Huddleston, Davidson, Dillman. Southwestern — Fulton, Leach, (2); 2B: Southwestern — Leach, (2). RBI: Brownstown — Dillman, (2); May.

WP: May, Brownstown. LP: Fulton, Southwestern.