LYNDONVILLE — The No. 5 Otter Valley Union High School softball team thumped top-seeded host Lyndon on Tuesday, 24-5, to earn a date in this weekend’s Division II final.
The 14-5 Otters will seek the program’s first title since 2009 at Poultney on either Friday or Saturday at a time to be announced on Thursday. They will meet the winner of a Wednesday game played after the deadline for this edition of the Independent between No. 2 Vergennes (14-2) and No. 3 BFA-Fairfax, the undefeated two-time defending D-II champion. OV has not faced either of those teams this spring.
The Otters will enter the final having outscored three playoff foes by a collective tally of 44-5. They bested Lake Region, 14-0, in the first round and No. 4 Mount Abraham, 6-0, in a quarterfinal before dismantling the 14-2 Vikings on Tuesday.
OV had played a much tougher schedule than Lyndon, which in the regular season played only two D-I teams, U-32 and Harwood, which both played D-II schedules; four D-III teams; and only three games against teams with winning records, U-32 and Thetford.
By contrast, OV played three D-I teams, including defending champion Brattleboro and 2014 finalist Mount Anthony, and only two D-III teams. Twelve of their games this spring have come against winning programs, including two in the playoffs.
It showed on Tuesday, when OV took quick leads of 7-1 and 12-3. OV scored in every inning except the seventh and banged out 21 hits off four Lyndon pitchers.
Senior shortstop Cortney Poljacik led the OV attack with a triple, double, three singles, four runs and six RBIs. Taylor Aines went four-for-four, scored six times and drove in three runs; sophomore Maia Edmunds drilled three hits and drove in a run; and seniors Megan Santell and Brittany Bushey and sophomore Amy Jones contributed two hits apiece.
Aines earned the win, striking out six, walking none and allowing six hits in seven innings. She and the Otters did not allow a run after the third inning.