South Jersey pins 3-1 loss on Magic Teal

By Mark W. Miller

The Boardman team continues pool play with a doubleheader this morning.

BOARDMAN — Although Boardman Ohio Magic Teal lost to the New Jersey South Jersey Gators 3-1 in an opening Pony 12U regional fastpitch softball tournament game Saturday at the Fields of Dreams, the players weren’t disappointed.

Ohio Magic (25-13) got together as a team for the first time last September.

“We have won four championships since we started and coming into this tournament the girls’ expectations were high and they still are,” said assistant coach Melanie Kirkham-Olsen, who is the Boardman High tennis coach.

“We still have at five more games to play, “ said Bob Jones, Ohio Magic coach. “The girls have known each other for years, get along well together and we want them to play well and give us a chance to make it to the final 16.”

Ohio Magic, which is in pool A, continues that quest when they play today at 8 and 11:20 a.m.

The girls play games of six innings or 75 minutes. South Jersey Gators (46-12) were batting in the bottom of the fourth inning when the umpire called it because of the time limit.

“They [South Jersey] are one of the toughest teams in the tournament and we played them tough,” Jones said.

Olsen agreed.

“They are a very good team and we had a respectable finish,” Olsen said. “The girls expect to rebound [today]. We have been behind before and have bounced back.”

Ohio Magic Teal played winter ball at Sluggers on South Avenue. Olsen said the team gained a lot of experience for the outdoor season. It won the four-team Sluggers League title, then went on to win the 10-team Field of Dreams Classic in May and the Diamond Queens Open in Wheeling, W.Va., in June.

The Magic qualified for the regional in “The Calm Before The Storm” tournament at Liberty in May.

“It was pretty sweet to reach this level and we still have high expectations,” said shortstop Lindsey Kirkham-Olsen, one of the top hitters for Ohio Magic.

First baseman Casey Cottrell, who will be an eighth-grader at Boardman Middle School this fall, added, “This is the first year for us.

“We’ve played well and get along together well and we’ve come this far and that says a lot about us,” she said. “We are looking forward to tomorrow.”

South Jersey took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a double by Carley Todd, a pair of walks, a wild pitch and an error.

Ohio Magic, which stranded seven batters (including three in the first inning), tied the score in the top of the second as Marina Damato reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an error.

In that first inning, Gators winning pitcher Hunter Urban struck out the first batter she faced, walked three, then struck out the next two to end the threat.

South Jersey got the deciding runs in the bottom of the second on a pair of singles, a wild pitch, a stolen base and a double by Ally Turner.

“Being the hometown team, we expected them [Ohio Magic] to come out strong,” South Jersey assistant coach Gary Worthington said. “There is good camaraderie among the girls and a lot of balance. They can hit with power, can bunt and take advantage of what teams will give us to score early and protect a lead.”

The top 16 teams out of pool play will advance to the single elimination round on Wednesday and Thursday.