Poland offense muted

Northwest shut out the Bulldogs, 3-0.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AKRON -- Poland High softball coach Reid Lamport corrected reporters who suggested his team suffered a letdown in the first inning.
It happened much sooner than that.
"In the pre-game warm-up, I had to check to see if those were my girls," Lamport said of the Division II regional semifinal Thursday at Firestone Stadium. "I told them that it was the worst pre-game we've ever taken."
Canal Fulton Northwest scored two unearned runs in the first inning and quieted the Bulldogs en route to a 3-0 victory.
"It was almost like Northwest had been here four years in a row and this was our first year," said Lamport, referring to his team's regional streak. "We played on our heels, rather than play that aggressive game."
In control
Northwest pitcher Christine Bills (16-7) had something to do with that. Although not dominating, Bills kept Poland (22-6) off-balance with an assortment of pitches.
"She was a tough pitcher to hit; she never threw the same pitch twice [in a row]," Lamport said. "It would have been tough to get four runs off her with the way she threw today."
Bills tossed a three-hitter -- singles by Steffi Graf, Krista Ginnetti and Ashley Conger -- while allowing her defense to execute routine plays consistently.
"She just had us guessing with the rise[ball] and change-up combination," Poland senior Mallory Conger said.
Lamport added, "We've seen some awfully good pitching all season, and we've been able to manufacture runs. Here, we didn't get anybody to third base."
Despite not having her best outing, pitcher Mallory Conger (18-4) did her best to contain the Indians while battling a cough. Two unusual doubles that landed behind first base, however, played a key part in the outcome.
"That was a pretty spot, wasn't it?" said Northwest coach Heather Johnson, whose team will play Walsh Jesuit for a state berth Saturday. "We did what we had to do; we put the ball in play and made something happen."
Out of reach
Northwest's Jen Newingham hit a looping double in the first inning that scored two runs, which came after Poland committed one of its three errors in the game.
"Errors opened the door to that, but they took advantage of it," Lamport said, "and when you get to this point, you have to take advantage of the other team's miscues."
Brooke Smith nearly duplicated the play in the fourth inning for the Indians (17-8) when she blooped a run-scoring double, also behind first base.
"That's just the way it goes sometimes," Mallory Conger said of the bloop hits. "We didn't hit [Northwest], so we couldn't even have a chance to get lucky. It might have gone both ways, but we'll never know."
richesson@vindy.com