Ridge forces tie, then wins

Kaila Gehring and Katie Harmon combined for 25 strikeouts in a mound duel.
& lt;a href=mailto:kovach@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN KOVACH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BERLIN CENTER -- There could be a moral to the story of Monday's softball game between Mineral Ridge and Western Reserve.
And it's this: When the game is on the line, don't give your opponent and inch, or she may take a mile.
In the Blue Devils' case, they gave the Rams a reprieve, and it ended up costing them the game.
Pitcher Katie Harmon of Western Reserve was one strike away from a 1-0 win in the top of the seventh inning, before Mineral Ridge turned the tables and rallied for a 3-1 victory in eight innings in the Inter-County League game.
The scenario
Harmon had two outs and an 0-and-2 count on Robin Zimmerman, who then managed to draw a walk to keep the Rams alive. That set the stage for pitcher Kaila Gehring, who saved her own game by doubling home Zimmerman to tie the score at 1-1.
Then in the top of the eighth, Mineral Ridge scored the go-ahead run when Harmon walked Zimmerman again with the bases loaded to force in Emily Sheller, who had singled. And the Rams added an insurance tally when Katie Garland, who reached on an infield single, scored on an error.
Gehring (6-0), a hard-throwing southpaw, wound up pitching a five-hitter with 15 strikeouts, and was tough especially in the clutch by fanning seven of the final nine batters, including three of four in the eighth. She walked three batters.
Harmon (3-3) finished with a seven-hitter and 10 strikeouts, but had some control problems, allowing seven walks.
Gehring also had a single while Sheller finished with three singles, with Zimmerman's two walks setting up the tying run and driving in the go-ahead tally.
The tide-turner
"The key play came with two outs in the seventh inning and an 0-and-2 count on [Zimmerman] and we walked her; and that put her in position to score on Gehring's hit," said Western Reserve coach Joe Serensky, noting Gehring was the difference.
"She's a good hitter and you have to give her credit. She pitched a heck of a game. She's the best pitcher we faced this year."
Coach Bill Croft of Mineral Ridge said Gehring was in good form.
"Her fastball was good. She had a couple of change-ups. She was moving the ball around inside and outside and her control was really food. She pitched well in the clutch."
Zimmerman's patience key
But as good as Gehring was, the balance of the game was tipped by Zimmerman's patience at the plate in waiting out Harmon's pitches.
"We were patient at the plate. We swung at good pitches," said Croft, but "both pitchers pitched really well."
Twenty-five of the game's 48 outs were strikeouts.
Mineral Ridge scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs. Quinn McCammon drew a walk in between two strikeouts, and then Josie Arditi hit a single and went to third on an error to score McCammon.
Andrea Hernan walked and stole second, but Gehring struck out the final batter to end the rally.
& lt;a href=mailto:kovach@vindy.com & gt;kovach@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;