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DISTRICT BASEBALL & SOFTBALL

After 15 innings, Poland captures the district title

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

JEFFERSON — It was the type of game where you could legitimately type the phrase, “And after the second seventh-inning stretch. ...”

Poland High softball coach Reid Lamport had already turned his rally cap inside out and back again. Edgewood coach Shelley Monas had already cracked up the fans by dropping to her knees, grasping her hands together and begging her team to get a run.

And, ultimately, the fate of Thursday’s Division II district title came down to a relatively unsung sophomore outfielder wearing trendy black Ray Ban glasses.

In the top of the 15th inning, Chelsea McCree came to bat with the bases-loaded, two outs and the score tied 0-0. She’d been in the exact same situation two innings earlier, when she grounded out to second to make her 0-for-6 for the game.

When she quickly got into an 0-2 hole against Edgewood’s first team All-Ohio pitcher, Megan Dragon, McCree looked headed for 0-for-7. But like her teammates had done for more than three hours, she kept battling. She fouled off five straight pitches, took a pitch for a ball and dug in once more.

She swung, chopped a ball up the middle and the Warriors’ infielders dove, then disappeared in a cloud of dust. The Warrior infielders beat Poland’s Jessica D’Apolito to the bag, but the bright yellow ball didn’t leave the ground. Two runners came home, Lamport jumped up and threw his fist in the air and McCree ... well, she may have needed an error to do it, but she smiled knowing she’d delivered the biggest play in the biggest game of her life.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said following the Bulldogs’ 2-0 victory. “I was overjoyed.”

Poland and Edgewood were meeting for the sixth time in seven years and the game pitted a Warrior team with seven seniors (including Dragon, a four-year starter more intimidating than her last name) against a Poland team starting six underclassmen and just one senior.

But Poland’s biggest weakness may have been its biggest strength. Its two best players, pitcher Erin Gabriel and Jenna Modic, are freshman with a long history of big games in summer ball. They had the poise of seniors with the fearlessness that comes from knowing their time is just beginning.

“In a game like this, you look to your senior leadership to keep everybody up and keep everybody focused,” said Lamport, whose team is 5-1 against Edgewood over the recent stretch. “When we didn’t score about five times when we could have, sooner or later that can wear on you and get you down.

“But the girls didn’t allow it. They stayed up.”

Although senior Brittany Gamble did her part, forcing her teammates to stand in the dugout and cheer, the biggest reason was Gabriel.

Her statistics were amazing — 25 strikeouts against one walk and three hits — but it was the way she kept getting better that gave the Bulldogs hope that, even after squandering chances, they’d eventually break through. Only two Warriors got to second base and both came in the third inning. From the fourth inning on, Edgewood had just two baserunners and Gabriel retired the game’s final 20 batters.

“What can you say about Erin’s performance?” Lamport said, shaking his head. “Amazing.”

She was tremendous at the plate, too. From her leadoff spot, she had three of Poland’s six hits, reached base five times and, naturally, scored the game-winner. Gabriel led off the 15th with a double she crushed off the left-center wall. When she jogged into second, one thought crossed her mind.

“All I could think was, ‘I did it,’ ” she said.

Of course, Poland still had to score — McCree’s drama didn’t come until five batters later — but once it did, the energy drained from Edgewood and the last three outs seemed inevitable.

“My rise ball, I don’t know where it came from today, but it was on,” said Gabriel. “ It really motivated me to see [Dragon] pitch first and not give up any runs, so I really had to stay focused and come out and work for my team.”

Dragon was almost as good — she struck out 21 and walked four — but the Warriors’ five errors eventually took their toll.

“It’s tough because you got seven seniors it meant a lot to,” said Monas, struggling to choke back tears afterward. “We just didn’t hit well enough.

“[Gabriel] threw a nice game. She pitched a beautiful game.”

Poland will meet Field in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. May 28 at Firestone Stadium in Akron. They might need that much time to recover from Thursday.

“This was pretty unique,” said Lamport. “The girls just battled and battled.

“I’m very proud of them.”

scalzo@vindy.com