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Mooney ousts Irish in thriller
By TOM WILLIAMS
LISBON
Facing the defending Division III state runners-up with one of Ohio’s all-time winningest pitchers, the Cardinal Mooney High softball team was looking for an edge to make the playing field slightly more level.
The Cardinals found it with their speed, defeating their arch-rival Ursuline, 5-3, on Tuesday in a district semifinal game at the Dickey Complex.
Three infield hits combined with three errors helped the Cardinals (23-5) jump out to a 5-1 lead against Irish senior Casey Lower (21-4).
In a three-run sixth inning, Christina Hrehor hit a two-out, two-run double and Vickie Farris brought her home with a single to send the Cardinals to Thursday’s district championship game against today’s winner of the South Range-Girard game.
“It’s extremely big,” said Farris on ousting Ursuline (22-4). “They are our biggest rival and they got us the first time around. So we definitely had a chip on our shoulder.”
Farris was referring to Ursuline’s 1-0 regular-season win.
“We knew that they would give us a good fight all the way to the end, and they did,” Farris said.
Winning pitcher Cadi Sheffler (8-3) limited the Irish to two hits in the first six innings before Ursuline scored twice with four hits in the seventh.
“I was so happy that we beat them because all day at school I had my doubts that we were going to have one bad inning and that was going to be the downfall of the game,” Sheffler said. “The last time I was this happy was when we beat Canfield last year because they were [defending] state champions.”
Ursuline was hoping for a repeat trip to state.
“We gave a lot away there and we did not take advantage of some opportunities,” said Ursuline coach Mike Kernan.
“In the first inning when we did not push that run across, it let them off the hook,” Kernan said. “If we get that first run, pressure … falls on them.”
Mooney’s speed was the difference.
“Our small ball really set the table for us,” Mooney coach Mark Rinehart said, “Sometimes when you get teams that are so strong at pitching that the rest of their team doesn’t get tested maybe as much, they don’t have to make [as many] plays.
“We stressed being aggressive early in the counts,” Rinehart said. “Lower is an outstanding pitcher, arguably the best to come out of this area in a long time.
“I didn’t think that we would get five runs off of her but I’m ecstatic about the way the kids hit the ball — we really had them on their heels.”
Margo Ucchino sparked Mooney’s two-run third inning when she reached on an error. After her sister, Macy, bunted her way on base, Shayla Decapita reached base on another error, scoring Margo Ucchino. Jamie Clausen’s sacrifice fly scored Macy Ucchino for a 2-0 lead.
“We were nervous, but I’m glad we got on the board first because it took a lot of pressure off,” Hrehor said. “We needed to get to [Lower] early.”
The Irish sliced the lead in half in the fourth inning when Kelli Kolenich singled, swiped two bases and scored when Malikka Caige reached on an error.
In the sixth inning, Decapita bunted her way on base and Clausen walked, setting the table for Hrehor’s double into the left-field corner.
“We didn’t swing at her riseball and that’s her best pitch,” Hrehor said. “Lower is a great pitcher but they never really had a chance to play [much] defense because of her during the regular season. All we wanted to do was to make contact.”
Down to their final two outs, the Irish scored twice. After Krista Byers singled, Erin Vukovich doubled her home, then scored on Sarah Ingalls’ two-out single. Mooney pitcher Cadi Sheffler (8-3) induced a groundball out to end the game.
“I’ve been fortunate and blessed with this great group of seniors, especially Casey Lower,” Kernan said. “We couldn’t have asked for more.”