RICHMOND — The Edison softball team is one step closer to reaching its yearly goal of making it to the regional tournament.

Edison – the No. 2 seed — scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and did not look back en route to defeating No. 6 seed Ridgewood, 9-3, in an Ohio Division III Eastern District Section co-final Thursday evening at the Edison Unified Sports Complex

“This is what we worked for throughout the regular season,” Edison (16-12) head coach Spencer Bendle said. “Now, we we are postseason, and this is the first leg of what we hope will be a long journey.”

With the win, Edison will play No. 3 seed Barnesville in the district semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday at Big Red’s new Crimson Complex. Barnesville defeated No. 5 seed Fort Frye, 12-2, in a sectional co-final Thursday at home.

“The biggest thing is win and advance,” Bendle said. “We won this one, so we have advanced to the districts. Now, we have to work and prepare for the winner of Barnesville and Fort Frye. Hopefully, we will play better as we move on.”

The Wildcats plated another run in the second and two more in the fifth to build a commanding 7-0 advantage against the Generals. Edison had opportunities to score more, but a couple of miscues on the bases prevented the hosts from doing so.

“We made a couple of base running mistakes,” Bendle said. “There were some thing we did not do well on the bases. We kind of went flat there in the middle innings. Our base running costs us two or three runs. You cannot have that in a tight ballgame where it’s a one run or two run game. You cannot give away runs like that.”

Katie Fluharty pitched well en route to recording the win for the hosts. Fluharty finished the game with 12 strikeouts while not walking a batter. Fluharty was pitching a no-hitter through five innings.

“I think Katie pitched well overall,” Bendle said. “I thought she pitched well in the sixth too. She was hitting her spots. Some times when you have a big cushion, you focus just on throwing strikes and not hitting the edges. I thought she pitched well the whole game.”

The visitors scored three runs on three hits in the sixth to cut their deficit down to 7-3.

The victors responded by tacking on two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to complete the game’s scoring.

Kaydence Lahna took the loss for the visitors from Coshocton County. The freshman struck out one and walked two.

“I said before the game, I told the online guys that they are fundamentally sound,” Bendle about the Orange and Black. “They played well.”

Bendle added this was the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Generals.

The Wildcats totaled 15 in the win — three of which went for extra bases.

Individually, Alli Shrieve tallied two singles, a home run and three RBI, Audrey Scott collected a single, a double and three RBI and Pressley Meadows produced a double and two RBI. Also, Becka Evans ended up with two singles and two RBI, Morgan Martin contributed three base hits, and Pam Johnson and Grace Browning each recorded two singles.

Evans led off the home half of the first with a single, and Hannah Russell came in to run for Edison’s catcher. Russell stole second, and then Martin singled for the first time before promptly stealing. Scott then reached on a fielder’s choice on a ball hit to short, allowing Russell to score the game’s first run. Meadows followed with a double bringing home Martin and Scott to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.

Fluharty then lined out to center, and Meadows was doubled off second for the second out. Shrieve kept the inning going as she belted a solo home run over the fence in left to increase Edison’s advantage to 4-0.

Johnson then reached on an infield single, moved to second on a throwing error before she advanced to third on a wild pitch. The home team was on the verge of extending their advantage, however, a diving catch on a ball hit to short ended the inning.

“We took advantage of the speed we do have,” Bendle said. “We moved people around, and it worked out for us.”

Fluharty retired Ridgewood in order in the second, and Edison came right back with another run in their next at-bat.

Browning led off the inning with a single, and she scored on a double by Scott to extend Edison’s advantage out to 5-0.

The Wildcats had opportunities to score in each of the next two innings, however, the Wildcats were unable to push more runs across. Edison had two runners on in the third, however, Lahna was able to induce a groundout to third to end the inning. Martin and Scott collected back-to-back base hits with one out in the fourth, however, the girls in black were unable to take advantage of that opportunity as a flyout to right and a pop-up to second ended the threat.

Edison got on the scoreboard again with two more runs in the fifth. Anna Wadas reached on an error with two outs, and Browning singled to put two runners on base. Evans followed with a single scoring Wadas and Ellie Joynson, who came in to run for Browning, giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

Fluharty then lost her no-hit bid when Skylar Wright led off the sixth with a single to give the Generals their first base runner since the first. After a strikeout, Lahna reached on a single, and both runners scored on a single by Jaydeigh Miller making the score, 7-2. Madi Wilkin – who came in to run for Ridgewood’s catcher – scored her team’s third run on an error to make it a 7-3 ballgame.

The Wildcats plated two runs in their half of the inning to regain control.

Scott started things off with a single, and Meadows drew a walk to put two runners on base. After a flyout, the pair scored on a single by Shrieve to make the score 9-3.

“We have to continue to do the little things,” Bendle said. “We have to do a good job with our base running, we have to move people up and we have to take care of things defensively.”

The Wildcats committed four errors in the game, while the Generals made three.

“That’s too many,” Bendle said. “We are going to have to play cleaner on defense.”

Fluharty struck eight of the nine Ridgewood’s batters at least once, she struck out three girls twice and one girl struck out three times.

Edison opened up the postseason with a 16-0 victory against No. 14 seed Coshocton in the semifinals Monday at home, while Ridgewood defeated No. 12 seed Tuscarawas Valley, 4-2.

The Wildcats may play a game before taking on the Shamrocks in the district tournament.

Barnesville defeated No. 13 seed Buckeye Local, 5-2, in its sectional opener.

Edison 9, Ridgewood 3

Ridgewood 000 003 0 – 3 3 3

Edison 410 022 X – 9 15 4

RIDGEWOOD: Lahna LP (1K, 2BB) and Miller. Lahna S, Miller S, 2RBI; Wright S.

EDISON (16-12): Fluharty WP (12K, 0BB) and Evans. Evans 2S, RBI; Martin 3S; Scott S, D, 3RBI; Meadows D, 2RBI; Shreeve 2S, HR, 3RBI; Johnson 2S; Browning 2S.