CVCA ace tames Lisbon, gets UHS

The Royals and Irish will play today for the district title.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANFIELD -- As far as the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Royals are concerned, when pitcher Katie Keslar is on they feel like they have a chance of winning.
Keslar was definitely on Monday as she scattered four hits and struck out nine. She also had a double and scored a run as the Royals defeated Lisbon, 6-1, in a Division III district semifinal at the South Range sports complex.
CVCA will meet Ursuline in the championship game today at 5:30 p.m.
"I was nervous and really struggled in the first inning, but settled down and relied on my defense the rest of the game. I never really felt like I got into a groove, but remained focused on one thing -- winning," Keslar said.
"Our defense was exceptional today. We hadn't played in 12 days and while practice keeps you from getting too rusty, it's nowhere near a game situation."
Long wait
The Royals improved to 18-9 (also Keslar's record) while Lisbon ended its season 20-3.
"Take nothing away from CVCA because they played an excellent game. It was evident, however, that we hadn't played in nine days and being idle for that long really hurt us," Lisbon coach Dave Crismon said.
"We played real tentative and made some defensive mistakes. You can't do that against a team like CVCA, especially in the playoffs and expect to win," Crismon said.
The Blue Devils committed a season-high seven errors and never really matched their first inning offense, which produced their only run and three of their four hits.
"They called Orel Hershiser a bulldog, but Keslar is every bit the bulldog as well. She really battles you and even when she isn't on, she gives it her all and finds a way to keep you in the game," CVCA coach Jeff Johnson said.
"We made some base running mistakes today but got away with them. If you aren't careful, those can be costly; especially at tournament time.
"I don't know much about Ursuline, other than the fact that they are a good club and we better keep our mistakes to a minimum if we expect to win."
Devils' doubles
Back-to-back doubles by Katie Ketchum and starting pitcher Erica Snoddy (12-2) in the first inning produced the only run of the game for Lisbon.
That lead lasted until the third inning when Keslar led off with double, later scoring one of her team's two runs in the inning.
Both runs in the third inning were unearned.
The score remained that way until the fifth inning when a fielder's choice by Julie Keslar, double by Kelsey Evans and single by Mackenzie Fisher scored three more runs for a 5-2 Royals lead.
They added an insurance run in the seventh when Hanna Eliason led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Bethany Myers.