PREP SOFTBALL LaBrae earns trip to state

The Vikings beat Cardinal Mooney 9-3 in the Division III regional championship.
MASSILLON --The LaBrae High players, coaches and fans lingered on the baseball diamond at Massillon's Genshaft park long after the Division III regional softball championship trophy was hoisted following a 9-3 victory over Cardinal Mooney Sunday.
There were hugs, cheers and tears for a Viking team that will be the first in school history to play in a state semifinal game.
"We're going to state," said LaBrae's game-winning pitcher, Stephanie Higgins. "What an awesome feeling.
"No one wants to leave. I think we might stay here all night and celebrate."
Play Friday in Ashland
The Vikings (15-6) will play Sycamore Mohawk (26-2) in the state semifinals on Friday at 10 a.m. at Ashland's Brookside Park.
"We're playing with a lot of confidence right now," said LaBrae coach Chad Kiser. "We've only played 21 games but we're just now clicking and catching our stride."
Against the Cardinals (19-10), LaBrae had all facets of its game in sync.
The Vikings played flawless defense and pounded out 12 hits off Mooney pitcher Colleen Courtney.
Mooney struggles
Mooney, on the other hand, struggled at the start and handed the Vikings three unearned runs in the first inning by committing two errors.
"We made some very basic defensive mistakes in the first inning and got behind," said Mooney coach Mark Rinehart. "We came back, but LaBrae was a better hitting team than our semifinal opponent and we dug too deep a hole this time to work our way back."
Mooney managed to tie the game in the third inning with a four-hit rally off LaBrae starting pitcher Lindsey Higgins.
Courtney led off with a walk and was replaced on the bases by Mallory Ucchino. DiAndra Debacco singled and Mara Palombaro followed with an RBI single that drove Ucchino home. A groundout by Gina Brunetti brought home another run and Dana Palazzo's infield single tied the game at 3.
Blanks Cards final four
After that, Kiser turned to catcher Stephanie Higgins, Lindsey's sister, to finish out the game on the mound and she was able to shut out the Cards in the final four innings.
LaBrae took the lead for good with a five-run rally in the fifth inning as all nine batters went to the plate.
The Vikings got four consecutive singles by Leea Gordon, Stephanie and Lindsey Higgins and Chandra Needles, which all drove in a run. Amanda Hall's groundout drove in the fifth run of the inning.
"We always hit the ball," said Lindsey Higgins. "Especially at the end of the season our bats have really come around."
LaBrae put one more run on the scoreboard in the seventh on back-to-back singles by the Higgins sisters and a groundout.
Leading the Vikings
Stephanie Higgins pounded out three hits and drove in three runs to lead the LaBrae offense while Gordon added two hits and an RBI. Morgan Briscoe also had two hits and scored twice.
Mooney's offense produced eight hits. But other than in the third inning, the Cards couldn't string anything together.
Mara Palombara led Mooney with three hits and an RBI while Palazzo added a double and single with an RBI.
"I'm still proud of our effort," Rinehart said. "It would have been a tighter game if we make the plays we know we can make.
"This team has gone farther than any softball team in the history of the school. They have nothing to be ashamed of."
Mooney committed six errors in the game and LaBrae took advantage every time.
"We put the ball in play," Kiser said. "Anytime you do that, you put pressure on the defense
"When you can also come up with big hits, that's tough to beat."