Spartans done in by missed chances

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ASHLAND -- It wasn't supposed to end this way.
That's what the Boardman Spartan softball team kept telling themselves. Not this way. Not this game.
Games like these are supposed to be decided on the field.
Right?
"It's pretty tough to take," Spartan coach Bill Amero said, shaking his head. "The game was not decided by someone wearing Maroon and Gold."
A controversial call cost the Spartans a run and, eventually, the game as Cincinnati Sycamore beat Boardman 1-0 in 12 innings Thursday in a Division I state semifinal at Brookside Park.
Controversial call
Boardman appeared to have the game in hand in the top of the 11th inning when senior Laura Amero hit a sacrifice fly to score junior Audrey Martinko. But Sycamore appealed to third and the umpire ruled that Martinko never got back to the bag, Amero said.
The run was erased. An inning later, Aviator cleanup hitter Katie Luning singled up the middle to score Erin Mullen for the game-winner.
"You hate to see an umpire make a decision that affects the game like that," Amero said. "I saw [Martinko's] foot on the bag. But the fact is, we had opportunities before that. It should never have come down to that play."
The Spartans loaded the bases with one out in the first inning but Jen Feret and Mary McCabe both struck out to end the threat. Boardman had base runners in four of the next five innings, but never got past second base.
Jennifer Pancake led off the ninth with a double, but courtesy runner Meghan Hovanic was left stranded.
"I just figured we'd come back," said Pancake. "Like we did against Massillon Jackson when we were down two in the seventh inning. But we played our game. We should have won it earlier in the game."
Pancake pitched well
Pancake (15-3) allowed two singles and threw a wild pitch in the first inning, but settled down after that, retiring 12 in a row at one point. She struck out 11 and walked two.
She allowed just two base hits over the next 11 innings.
"That's how the game goes, I guess," said Spartan third baseman Gina Rango, who made several defensive plays. "There's nothing you can do. But I've had a great career. I have no complaints."
This was Sycamore's first trip to the state semifinals. The Aviators (17-10) lost nine of their first 13 games and, despite being on a roll, were facing the defending Div. I state champions.
"But we didn't look at it like that," Aviator coach Debbie Klemt said. "We just thought of them as another team. You never expect to be here and nobody expected us to be here. We just tried to stay loose and play our game."
Added Amero, "They had nothing to lose and they played like it."
Long game
Sycamore pitcher Aimee Woodrun (13-6) held Boardman to five hits over the two hour, 22 minute game. The Aviators advanced to Saturday's state final to play Elyria at 12:30 p.m.
Pancake had two hits and Rango, Jen Feret and McCabe each added a single for the Spartans (27-5).
Boardman graduates four seniors, Rango, Amero, Leann Neiman and McCabe. They've made it to the state semifinals three straight years.
"This class will leave a legacy," Rango said. "And this team stuck together. This team had heart."
It's already being passed on.
"We lost," Pancake said. "But we know we'll be back next year."
scalzo@vindy.com