Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Chalker senior Tatum Hudak fires a pitch during Wednesday’s game against Badger in Vernon.

VERNON — A seven-run second inning helped push Chalker past Badger on Wednesday in a 15-2 victory for the Wildcats.

While the bats were a big factor for Chalker, coach Rich Hudak was most impressed with how they carried themselves while on the base paths.

“We hit the ball well, but our base running was on point today,” Hudak said. “We just did what we needed to do running the bases, and that’s important. Just the little things, that was our main key. Tatum (Hudak) did a great job in the circle. Our defense backed her up and did what they needed to do, and we got the result we hoped for.”

The teams traded runs in the first, but Chalker’s second appearance at the plate was their most productive. Going through the lineup, the Wildcats sent seven runners home.

They continued with a steady stream of runs throughout the game.

Chalker hit a trio of triples in the sixth inning, scoring four runs and extending its lead past the run-rule threshold.

Riley Ashcraft, Tatum Hudak and Abby Grimm each hit triples that scored runners in the inning. Katelyn Cook hit a double that was mere centimeters from landing outside the fence, but bounced off the fence and inside for a double.

“It was a cold day today, so we’ll definitely take it,” Rich Hudak said. “We hit the ball one through nine.”

The lone home run of the game came off a solo shot from Badger’s pitcher, Samantha Bradbury.

For the Braves (9-6, 7-4), the errors just snowballed.

“It happened multiple innings, so when that happens that many times, that’s what the score ends up being,” Badger coach Greg O’Brien said.

But this could be a gut check for the Northeast’s third seed in Division VII. Now it’s up to them to respond.

“We have to do better. That’s not who we are. We can do better than that,” O’Brien said. “I just want them to take that one and remember that next time, and we’re going to put a better effort out there.

“A lot of it is mental. Just keeping our head in the game is usually one of the biggest battles. This late in the season, we are who we are with the plays, we just got to make them and not do what we did tonight. We need to put this behind us and get back to what we normally do.”

As the regular season reaches its end, RIch Hudak hopes to close the season strong. That comes down to group focus.

“I want to see them focus on the entire game, not the first three or four innings. I want them to go the full seven,” Hudak said. “We just talked about that many times when we were in between innings. We talked about focusing every single play because there’s always something we need to work on like every other team. We need to work on that and focus the entire time. That was the main thing we’re looking for today.

“We have a goal, we have a plan, and we’ll stick to it. They know what they need to do. Most of them have been here before and we know what it takes to get where we want to go.”

Chalker opens its tournament run with a home game against Leetonia on May 14. Badger opens with Elyria Open Door Christian.