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Perfection: Bulldogs’ Gabriel fans all 15 batters
Poland ace records third straight tourney no-hitter
By Tom Williams
JEFFERSON
After throwing two no-hitters to begin tournament play, what do you do for an encore?
If you’re Poland sophomore Erin Gabriel, how about a five-inning perfect game, striking out all 15 hitters?
Perfection doesn’t come any better than that. Gabriel’s arm and two hits helped the Bulldogs (26-1) overwhelm Ashtabula Edgewood 10-0 in a Division II district final at the JAGS Complex on Friday.
Was she aware of just how dominant her performance was?
“Not at all,” said Gabriel (18-0), who tossed no-hitters against Hubbard on May 14 and Notre Dame Cathedral Latin on Thursday. “I just go out and pitch every inning and I don’t think about what I did last inning unless it was a bad pitch or something.
“I just try to get better every inning.”
Gabriel threw 59 pitches and only 13 were balls. Only one batter (leadoff batter Megan Cunha) managed to foul off a two-strike pitch. That came in the fourth inning in her second at-bat.
“When you haven’t seen her pitch, it’s really hard to change what you’re doing in a game situation,” Poland coach Reid Lamport said. “And you can gear up a pitching machine and make it go faster but ... the amount of movement she has on the ball ... you’re working against speed and you’re working against movement. It’s really tough.”
Senior catcher Megan Hirschbeck said she saw Gabriel’s confidence soar as the game progressed.
“When she gets into her rhythm [pitching back-to-back], she just I think gets more into the groove. She gets looser. Once she starts throwing her riseball, [opponents] won’t lay off, it doesn’t matter if it’s a strike or not.”
Unlike last year’s 15-inning district final between these teams — won by Poland 2-0 — the rematch was over not long after it started.
“That was fine with me,” said Lamport, who is taking his 15th team to the regional in 21 years. “That 15-inning game last year was just so nerve-wracking that it was nice to see us get a couple in the first inning.”
Gabriel led off Poland’s first at-bat with a single. Courtesy runner Marissa Trevis scored on the first of Jenna Modic’s two doubles. After a wild pitch, Adriana Sikora scored Modic with an infield hit.
“Going on to regionals is such a good feeling,” Modic said. “Props to Erin, she threw a great game.”
The Bulldogs, unbeaten in All-American Conference Red Tier play, turned four hits, a walk and three Edgewood errors into five runs in the third inning.
Another error plus four hits, including Modic’s walk-off double that scored Trevis with the 10th run, ended the game.
“To mercy them today in five innings is really a good feeling,” Hirschbeck said.
“Awesome,” agreed Modic.
Among those watching the game was Hirschbeck’s father, John. The major-league umpire was injured on Thursday working home plate at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and is taking time off to recover.
“It’s nice when he’s here,” Megan Hirschbeck said. “He doesn’t get to see a lot of games so it’s always nice when he can come. He always seems to come when he’s injured. The catcher just missed [the pitch] and it beaned him. Otherwise, he would have been on the road.”