SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT Ursuline reaches district final with 5-0 win over Cardinal

The Irish will meet Champion in today's title game.
By KELLY WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
ORWELL -- To Ursuline High athletes Courtney Davidson and Vannessa Dickson, there is no such thing as an off-season.
They admitted to having no days off in the transition from basketball to softball, but after winning the Division III state championship in March, they certainly are not complaining.
They, along with the rest of the Irish softball team, have high expectations.
"We expect nothing less than state," Davidson said.
After defeating Middlefield Cardinal 5-0 Wednesday in a Division III district semifinal, the Irish find themselves a step closer to the goal.
Today at 4:30 p.m. at Grand Valley Middle School, Ursuline, the Steel Valley Conference champion, will play Champion, the Trumbull Athletic Conference co-champion, for the district title.
Senior leadership
"It's normal to want to get back to state," Ursuline coach Michael Kernan said. "I can sense the leadership in both Courtney and Vannessa. They've been there, and you can see that reflected in the other girls on the team."
Davidson, who is a senior, is headed to Michigan State University on a basketball scholarship.
"We both know what it takes to get there as a team and as individuals," Davidson said. It is "another sport, but we are after the same thing."
Kernan also has high expectations.
"We have won districts the last two years, and this is the third year we will be playing in the district championship game," Kernan said.
The Irish were more than ready for Cardinal (20-5), putting together seven innings of solid defense for the shutout.
When it appeared as if Cardinal might rally in the seventh inning -- Samantha Crum hit a leadoff double and Kendra Hall followed with a single -- the Irish did not rattle.
The next three batters were retired on two groundouts and a strikeout by winning pitcher Maureen Cearfoss (20-5).
Cearfoss allowed just three hits and tallied five strikeouts.
"She changes it up a lot with three or four different pitches," Cardinal coach Chuck Pullman said. "She really kept us off-balance."
Scores first run
Davidson led off the game with a single and scored the first run of the game.
Brittany Shonce laid a bunt down the third base line, allowing Alessandra Parry to score in the second inning.
A RBI single by Davidson in the fourth inning and run-scoring singles by Parry and Ashley Koval two innings later accounted for the other runs.
"They are a good team -- probably the best Division III school we have played this year," Pullman said.
Dickson, a sophomore, showed signs of a bright future in basketball and softball.
Anticipating today's game, she said, "We have to come focused and play the way we can play."
The Irish (21-5), according to Davidson, "just gotta get it done."