Bellaire senior pitcher De'Asia Burner throws to the plate during Thursday's Division III district softball final against Meadowbrook.

MORRISTOWN — Meadowbrook head softball coach Bridget George is of the belief that if you put the ball in play good things will happen.

That feeling, again, proved true Thursday afternoon.

The Colts collected five of their seven hits in the fifth inning, one that produced four runs.

The total was all the Guernsey Countians needed in blanking Bellaire, 4-0, in the Ohio Division III East District softball final at Union Local High School.

“We just put the ball in play then,” George said of the key inning that led to the program’s second-ever regional tournament trip. “That’s what you have to do.

“Give Bellaire credit. They’re here for a reason. They beat a very good Sandy Valley team and they challenged us quite a bit. Their pitchers kept us off-balance.”

The Big Reds came in red hot, having scored nine runs Tuesday in stunning the top seeded Cardinals. Against Meadowbrook, however, opportunities were few and far between.

“We put the ball in play … we’ve been putting it in play all year,” Bellaire head coach Melissa Lahna said. “But our downfall has been getting that timely hit. The last couple of games, we’ve gotten it. (Thursday) we couldn’t string together enough hits to get something started.”

Offensive opportunities were few and far between for both teams. Through 4.5 innings, both teams combined for six hits. But in the home half of the fifth, the Colts (18-7) broke through with four off Big Reds starter Natalie Stoner and one off De’Asia Burney, who came on in relief.

Sydney Farley and Sidney Rhinehart connected for singles to start the inning, with the latter an infield base knock.

With one out, Caitlyn Byard singled, too, her shot clearing the bases and putting Meadowbrook in front, 2-0. Later, with two away, Rylee Combs and Mallori Voytko registered back-to-back hits, both driving in runs.

All told, Meadowbrook sent eight batters to the plate in the fifth.

“Offensively, we struggled at the plate early,” George said. “But we started putting balls in play, got some bunts down, got some baserunners on, got timely hits and did what we needed to do to survive and advance.”

The Colts will play in Lancaster on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The opponent will be one of four teams — Westfall, Chesapeake, Alexander or Fairfield.

Meadowbrook pitcher Alyssa Marlatt allowed one extra-base hit — a Stoner triple with two gone in the first. The Big Reds (12-11) had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth, but Marlatt recorded her fifth strikeout and forced a groundout to first to end the threat.

“I can’t say enough about her composure,” George said of Marlatt. “And defensively, we brought our ‘A’ game.

“Everybody played their part and picked each other up.”

Lahna, while disappointed with the loss, wasn’t discouraged with the fight her team showed.

“We got some hardware,” she said. referencing the district runner-up trophy. “No one predicted us to be here. The future is extremely bright.”

The Big Reds lose just one senior in Burney, who Lahna said certainly left an impression on the program.

“She has been great for four years,” she said. “She has been a silent leader. She gave us everything she had.”