Hoover blanks Elyria for Div. I title

LaGrange Keystone and Dalton also won state softball championships.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASHLAND -- Jess Simpson pitched a complete game shutout and McKenna Russ homered to lead North Canton Hoover to a 2-0 win over Elyria in the Division I state softball championship.
Abbey Lindeman walked to start the sixth, and Russ followed with a two-run home run that provided all the offense the Vikings (31-2) would need. The win gave Hoover its third state championship and the school's first since winning back-to-back titles in 1998-99.
Elyria's best chance to score came with two outs in the fourth inning. The Pioneers put runners on second and third, but Megan Bashak grounded out to end the inning.
Simpson (28-2) held Elyria (28-6) to just four hits while striking out five.
Bashak (17-3) also pitched seven innings, giving up seven hits and two runs.
LaGrange Keystone 7, Circleville 0
ASHLAND -- Kristie Malinkey threw a perfect game and had plenty of offensive help to lead LaGrange Keystone to its second Div. II state championship.
Malinkey struck out 13 batters while retiring all 21 in a row.
Jessica Burt and Ginger Slone each had two RBIs for the Wildcats (32-2), and Malinkey drove in a run with an RBI double in the third inning.
Burt hit an RBI triple in the first and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Slone had a two-run double in the sixth.
Racheal Spangler took the loss for Circleville (23-9), giving up seven runs on nine hits and striking out five.
Dalton 1, N. Lewisburg Triad 0
ASHLAND -- Danielle Dwyer scored on an error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Dalton won its first Div. IV state championship.
Dwyer had doubled to lead off the inning. Allison Hostetler struck out and Katie Graber grounded out, moving Dwyer to third. Allison Hamsher then hit a ball that was misplaced by the Cardinals' first baseman, allowing Dwyer to score the game's only run.
Triad (29-6) had only two hits and committed three errors. Cardinals pitcher Morgan Ryan took the loss. She pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and one unearned run.
Jessica Carmichael pitched a complete game shutout for the Bulldogs (23-5).
Baseball
COLUMBUS -- Eric Seiter scored the winning run on a balk in the fourth inning as Marion Pleasant beat Sparta Highland 2-1 in a Div. III baseball semifinal.
Seiter got on base with a single off Dan Hughes and advanced to third on Rick Wilkinson's single. The bases were loaded after Ben Piacentini was hit by a pitch.
Hughes' balk sent in the winning run.
The Spartans (25-5) also scored in the third off Clay Lust's single.
Sparta Highland's Joey Thompson hit a single in the fifth to bring in the only run for the Fighting Scots (25-6).