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Crozier fires YSU’s first no-hitter since 2003
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Youngstown State’s Kelly Stowe (5) slides into second base, beating the tag by Detroit’s Kayla Kostich (5), during the fourth inning of Wednesday’s matchup at McCune Park in Canfield.
By Joe Catullo Jr.
CANFIELD
Kevin Crozier took a few days off as owner of a Dairy Queen franchise in Valparaiso, Ind., to watch his daughter pitch for Youngstown State and witnessed history.
Casey Crozier, who pitched a three-hit shutout against Detroit on Tuesday, was back on the mound 18 hours later against the Titans. This time, she pitched her first career no-hitter, becoming the first Penguins pitcher since Kelly Murphy in 2003 to do so, as YSU beat Detroit, 8-0, in five innings.
Kevin Crozier had a special celebration planned for her.
“Gonna take her grocery shopping, put some food in the refrigerator and head back,” he said.
Thanks to a malfunctioning scoreboard, Casey Crozier had no idea about the no-hit bid until the bottom of the fifth inning. A teammate told her YSU (8-14, 3-3 Horizon League) needed two more runs to win via the mercy rule and she would have it. Coach Brian Campbell also did not know.
“Until I actually looked at [the stat sheet] and realized that, I didn’t even know it myself,” he said. “I think my excitement was the fact of how they responded and how well she was pitching.”
Leading 7-0, Caroline Krombach ended the game on an RBI single, and Casey Crozier couldn’t be happier because she didn’t have to pitch at least one more frame.
Her only blemish was a two-out walk in the first inning. She also struck out seven hitters, mixing her drop ball with a hard fastball.
“Every day it’s a little bit different,” catcher Vicky Rumph said regarding the drop ball. “Yesterday, it stayed up a little bit. Today, it was down and got them swinging.”
Casey Crozier said her drop ball is slower than that from teammates Hana Somogyi and Kayla Haslett. She throws it like a baseball pitcher throws a curveball but underhanded. She snaps her wrist, hand over the ball, and lets it fly.
“I think my drop ball is effective because of Vick [Rumph],” Crozier said. “I think Vick can make it look like a strike, and it gets hitters kind of discombobulated because they don’t know if they should swing or not.”
Rumph and Sarah Gabel delivered a two-run singles in the first inning.
“I think it gave our whole team momentum because we had just come off from our loss yesterday,” Crozier said. “Being able to jump on them in the first inning was awesome, and I felt like everybody executed and did their job.”
Campbell said he was excited for his junior pitcher but was more pleased with the aggressiveness against Detroit (4-28, 1-4) after dropping the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.
“It was heads and tails different from yesterday,” Rumph said. “We were aggressive, [and] we took it to them right from the start. I think yesterday’s loss really helped get the fire under us today.”
The Penguins will practice on today and Friday, preparing for Cleveland State this weekend.
“I’ll be back this weekend,” Kevin Crozier said.