Goddard's single is boost Western Reserve needed
The Blue Devils will play Windham today.
By JIM FLICK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CORTLAND - A pinch hitter knocked in two runs in the fifth inning for Western Reserve, giving the Blue Devils a 5-4 lead they held onto to defeat Jackson-Milton Wednesday in a Division IV district semifinal softball game at Lakeview High.
The win advanced Western Reserve to the championship game today at 4:30 p.m. against Windham (15-8). The Bombers won their berth in the title game by defeating Columbiana 3-2 Wednesday.
The contest between Western Reserve (19-5) and Jackson-Milton (16-13) promised at the outset to be a slugfest. Western Reserve's Macy Marra led off the game with a triple, then scored on Elizabeth Srock's hit. The Blue Devils added a second run to take a 2-0 lead.
JM's first hitter
Jackson-Milton's first hitter also reached base and scored. Lead-off hitter Carrie Fiol singled and eventually crossed the plate as part of a double steal, which made the score 2-1 Western Reserve after one inning.
Western Reserve added a run in the second inning to increase its lead to 3-1. But Jackson-Milton tied the score in the third with a rally that started with two outs. Finally, facing a full count, Krista Kiraly singled to drive home two runners and tied the score at 3.
Jackson-Milton took the lead 4-3 in the bottom of fourth, when Erica Wilmouth singled, stole second, and scored when Laura Yash singled to right.
But Jackson-Milton's lead was short-lived. In the top of the fifth, Western Reserve loaded the bases with two outs. Pinch hitter Erica Goddard singled softly to right center, driving in two runs to give Western Reserve a 5-4 lead.
Pitcher's effort
Behind the determined effort of pitcher Stevie Banks, a senior, Western Reserve held onto that lead through the game's final innings, even though the Bluejays battled until the final out. Facing elimination in the bottom of the seventh, Fiol kept Jackson-Milton in the game with an infield single and advanced to third before an infield groundball resulted in the third out.
"The girls in the bottom of the order picked us up," Western Reserve coach Joe Serensky said. "We left some runners on the bases, more than we usually do, but the underclassmen pulled us through."
Banks gritty visage set the tone for Western Reserve's resolve to hold onto the lead, the coach remarked. "She really wanted this game, and it showed."
Serensky added he wasn't surprised at the determined battle by Jackson-Milton. "They played excellent," he remarked. "We knew this team was going to come and give us a battle."
Jackson-Milton coach Kelly Snowden said she was proud of her players, and added she has a prediction. "I have just one senior on this team," she commented. "We'll be right back here next year."
Other game
In the other game, Windham scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-1, and survived when Columbiana (13-12) scored a run in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2. The game ended when a pinch runner was tagged out when she tried to advance on a fly ball.
"We didn't attack the ball as well as we could have," Columbiana coach Bonnie Wilkinson said. "Defensively we were fine."