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Seven Valley softball teams continue tournament trail
The Vindicator
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Alex DiDomenico of Boardman will be counted on to pitch in the Division I regional tournament. The Spartans will play the winner of the Nordonia-Hudson game on Thursday at the University of Akron’s Lee Jackson Field.
Staff report
There’s no doubt what’s fueling the Boardman High softball team’s fires for this week’s Division I regional softball tournament at the University of Akron.
Last year’s 3-2 loss to Federal League rival Massillon Perry still stings.
“We’ve been very motivated since that [defeat],” Spartans senior second baseman Missy DeMarinis said. ”We came back with a determination to get to the regional final [again] and hopefully be in the same position as last year.”
Against Perry, Boardman led 2-0 going to the bottom of the seventh inning. Two outs away from a state semifinal game, the Spartans unraveled after a bloop infield hit was lost in the sun and Perry’s Shelbie Tilton hit a three-run double to win the game.
Perry went on to win the state championship. DeMarinis says the defeat still hurts but has the Spartans (15-7) stoked.
“We’re going into regionals confident,” said DeMarinis of Boardman’s third straight regional appearance. “As long as we hit the ball, we’re really pulling together. We’re happy to be on the field now.”
Center fielder Danielle Petrus believes experience matters.
“We’ve been to the regional two times already, so we know what to expect,” the senior said. “And we’ve got to believe the third time is the charm.
“There are still nerves there, knowing that we’ve been there and that this is our last chance to be down there. But it’s very exciting.”
Five other teams are making regional appearances, with Poland, South Range and Champion making returns.
Last year, Poland finished state runner-up after a 1-0 loss to Hebron Lakewood.
Bulldogs pitcher Erin Gabriel hopes her team takes another step the way Poland did in 2010.
“We lost in the [regional] championship game, 1-0, my freshman year,” the Poland junior said. “Last year, we really focused on trying to get past that game.
“Regional is huge because we want to get back to where we were at last year,” said Gabriel whose team will play West Branch on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Akron‘s Firestone Stadium.
Gabriel knows that the Bulldogs’ success means they can’t sneak up on anyone.
“There’s definitely a target [on us],” Gabriel said. “I mean, if I was playing against us, I’d want the same thing, I’d want to beat state runners-up, I’d want to take them out of the tournament, that would be my goal.”
Unlike last year when Poland rolled through the Jefferson district, the Bulldogs (21-2) had two one-run games last week (7-6 over Notre Dame Cathedral Latin, 1-0 over Southeast).
“We need to use the momentum from these games and swing it over into the next games,” said third baseman Jenna Modic, whose RBI double produced the only run in the district championship game. “We’ll go far if we just take care of business.”
Modic said the tight games didn’t worry her.
“No, I wasn’t, just because I know that our team — regardless of what the score is, regardless of how many runs we’re down — will fight until that last inning,” the Poland junior said. “Those are the best games to play in because the adrenaline is always high and everyone is always fighting and we’ll until that last out.”
Poland coach Reid Lamport said it’s important for his team to not look too far ahead.
“Their minds have been on [state] ever since the last game of last season,” Lamport said. “It’s been on their minds, but they realize it’s a one-step-at-a-time kind of a thing.”
In Div. III, undefeated Champion (22-0) takes on South Range (25-3) on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Massillon Community Park. Both went to the regional in 2010 and both were eliminated by Jeromesville Hillsdale.
Last week, South Range advanced with two blowout wins in the Lisbon district (10-0 over Mineral Ridge, 10-1 over Ursuline. At Jefferson, Champion clobbered Wickliffe (14-2) and won a close game over Pymatuning Valley (3-1).
“It feels great,” South Range senior Emily Seman said. “It feels amazing and it feels like all of the hard work we’ve put into this is paying off.
“This year, I feel like we’re all closer and we know what we have to do,” Seman said. “We’ve just got to keep playing together as one and keep up the excitement. And we’ve got to keep having fun. Coach [Don Feren] lets us have fun so it’s not like work. We work hard, but it’s always fun.”
In Div. IV, Columbiana (13-9) will play Mathews today at 5 p.m. at Kent State University.
Vindicator reporters Tom Williams and Jon Moffett contributed to this story.