Defending champs get best of Irish

By Tom Williams

Hebron Lakewood defeated Ursuline, 5-0, in the Division III state softball final.

AKRON — Numerous times during the Ursuline High softball team’s drive to the state final, the Irish defense encountered scoring threats that came close to ending their season.

The Irish escaped those jams mostly on the strength of junior pitcher Casey Lower’s arm.

In Saturday’s Division III state title game at Firestone Stadium, defending champion Hebron Lakewood had runners in scoring position in the first and second innings.

Lower’s prowess and sharp defense enabled the Irish to keep the game scoreless into the fifth inning.

But in that frame, the Irish luck ran out as the Lancers (30-4) loaded the bases with a bunt single, a bloop hit that landed behind third base and a near perfect bunt that gave catcher Sarah Ingalls no chance for a throw.

Up to the plate came University of Akron recruit Alissa Birkhimer, the Lancers’ best hitter. Birkhimer drilled a 1-2 pitch into right-center field for a three-run double that launched Lakewood to a 5-0 victory and a second consecutive title.

“I thought we could [escape] all the way up until that last pitch,” said Lower (26-7).

Birkhimer was pleased with how she connected.

“Oh yeah, it was right down the middle,” Birkhimer said. “I hit it hard, it was a solid hit.”

The Lancers’ pitcher, Birkhimer was replaced by courtesy runner Meagan Kelley. She went to the dugout with extreme confidence.

“As soon as I got to second, in my head [I thought] we’re state champs, I knew it after I hit that ball and we scored three runs,” Birkhimer said. “I knew it was our game. It as great.”

Ursuline center fielder Rebecca Hartz said a big hit like that “just knocks the wind out of you.

“She couldn’t have hit that ball any better,” the senior said. “It was right in the gap and I knew I had to get on my horse and run and get the ball.”

Birkhimer almost didn’t get the chance for her double. Lower had Birkhimer in an 0-2 count when she admits she made a mistake.

“It was supposed to be off the plate and it wasn’t,” Lower said of her third pitch.

Birkhimer let the pitch pass and home plate umpire Kathleen Murphy did not lift her right arm to signal strike.

“She turned and looked at me and said, ‘it was inside,’ ” Lakewood coach Criss Nadolson said.

“Right, I hit my stomach” to signal where it was,” Birkhimer said.

Asked if she worried that Murphy might call her out, Birkhimer said, “No, not really.”

Caitlin Houk singled to score Kelley for a 4-0 lead. Two Lancers reached base on an error and hit-batsman before the 31-pitch inning concluded.

“With my three- and four-hitters coming up with the bases loaded, I don’t think I could have [scripted it] any better than that,” Nadolson said of the outburst.

Ursuline coach Michael Kernan was impressed at how well the Lancers handled their bats.

“They played the small ball and got a couple of runners on. They had the bloop hit down the left-field line and then the clutch hit,” Kernan said. “Give them credit, they came through.”

Lower had retired 10 straight batters before Megan Swiantek’s bunt ignited the four-run rally.

Birkhimer took over as the game progressed, retiring 14 of the final 15 Irish batters.

“She’s a decent pitcher and she hit her spots,” Ursuline senior second baseman Miranda Carkido said. “We just weren’t on it today.”

Ursuline’s best chances to score came early. In the first inning, Kasey Foley and Ingalls hit consecutive one-out singles. Birkhimer escaped by retiring Anna Donko on a groundout and Carkido with a strikeout.

In the second inning, leadoff batter Krista Byers singled and stole second. Three strikeouts stranded her.

“We had a couple of opportunities early where we didn’t get the big hit,” Kernan said. “Birkhimer was one of the best pitchers we saw this year.

“I think [she’s] why they have 30 wins and two straight championships,” Kernan said. “We’ve seen some excellent pitching and she’s definitely up there with them.”

williams@vindy.com