ALL-STAR SOFTBALL Mahoning sweeps Trumbull

Mahoning posted 13-8 and 9-0 wins in the first contest between the counties.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Poland's Mallory Conger was having a great time joking with players on both teams during the first annual Mahoning County vs. Trumbull County High School Softball game at Boardman's Field of Dreams baseball complex.
"This was so much fun," said Conger, who pitched the Mahoning County squad to a 9-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader sweep against Trumbull County.
"It was fun to play with girls that you've competed against all season long," said Conger. "Competitively, I had no idea what to expect."
Three-hit shutout
Conger tossed a three-hit shutout in the nightcap after her teammates defeated Trumbull 13-8 in the first game.
"What an enjoyable night," said Mahoning coach Mark Rinehart, also the head coach at Mooney. "There was so much talent out on this field and the weather and the big crowd made this a great event."
Thirty softball players from 16 area schools participated in the two-game classic that was put together by an organizing committee headed by area baseball enthusiast John Zizzo.
A two-game contest was decided in order to ensure that all the players would get plenty of time to showcase their talents.
The first inning of the first contest showed that offense would rule the night.
Trumbull County opened with four runs in its half of the inning on three singles, a walk and a hit batsman.
Mahoning countered by scoring seven runs. Doubles by Boardman's Megan Cunningham and Ursuline's Jenna Vrabel and Stacie Ziobert did most of the damage in the inning.
Lewis, Zunic battle
Trumbull pitcher Barbie Lewis of Howland and Mahoning hurler Whitney Zunic of Canfield settled down after that before Trumbull whittled away at the Mahoning lead.
Two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth on RBI singles by Sunny Smallwood of Liberty and Newton Falls' Courtney Pelyak tied the game.
Mahoning broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring five runs. Stephanie Zizzo, Vrable and Ziobert all had run scoring singles in the inning.
Mahoning broke open a tight 2-0 game in the nightcap by scoring seven runs in the final three innings to put the game away.
South Range's Jessica Spickler drove in two runs with a single in the fifth inning while Vrable added an RBI in the sixth. Ziobert, South Range's Nicole Keeling and Poland's Stefi Graf had RBIs in the seventh.
"The girls had a lot of fun," said Trumbull coach Ken Miller of Hubbard. "This was a chance for them to get out and play one more game. It was a great experience."
Rinehart said that although his major concern was to make sure all the players got plenty of playing time it was also nice to win both games.
"It's still a competitive game," Rinehart said. "We wanted to compete and represent Mahoning County well and I think we did that."
All good students
All 30 players featured grade point averages over 3.0 and all are headed to college to further their educations.
"This game went far beyond our expectations," Zizzo said. "Hopefully in the future we can get a few more schools represented and feature all the top players in the area."