Columbiana makes state debut today

Staff report

Columbiana

There’s an old saying that it’s better to be lucky than good.

But it sure doesn’t hurt to be both.

As luck would have it, the Columbiana High softball team is pretty good. And it’s also pretty good that they’re rather lucky as well.

The team has been able to find a balance between the two as it plays in its first state tournament game today. Take the Clippers’ win in the Division IV regional championship game, for example.

Tied 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, senior pitcher Dakota DeAmicis used her skill, luck and brains. After the Clippers scored the tying run, DeAmicis was on third base. She alertly bolted for home plate as the catcher for regional runners-up Mogadore tossed the ball back to the pitcher. DeAmicis slid under the tag for the school’s first regional softball crown.

The Clippers (15-9) will try to use their luck/skill combination today in the first round of the state tournament. They’ll play Convoy Crestview (20-4) at Akron’s Firestone Stadium at 5:30 p.m.

The winner advances to the state title game.

The Clippers live and die through DeAmicis. She has pitched more than 130 innings for her team — the next highest total is 16.

DeAmicis also supplies a lot of the Clippers offensive power. She bats .377 with 20 RBI. Teammate Katie Libb is the leading hitter. She’s second on the team in batting average (.437) and leads in RBI (27). Khylea Fullum has the highest average (.451) and trails Libb in the RBI department by two.

But it might be the Clipper defense that is the biggest part of the title run. Columbiana turned three double plays in the title game. And the Clippers have given up a total of 15 runs in their five tournament games.

That includes shutouts of Southern and Jackson-Milton in the district tournament.