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LaBrae softball rallies but falls to Columbia Station
By STEVE WILAJ
MASSILLON
The LaBrae High softball team had one vital comeback during Saturday’s Division III regional final against Columbia Station. Unfortunately for the Vikings, they came up short in their second — and all-important — comeback attempt as they fell to the Raiders, 3-2, at Massillon High School.
“I’m sad for my seniors. That’s all I’m sad for,” LaBrae coach Demetra Noble said. “That’s life — you win some and lose some. We had a little bit of things that happened with our catcher and it cost us a run, but it is what it is sometimes.”
With two outs and a runner on second base in the bottom of the third inning, Vikings senior catcher Laura Hall was injured as she raced to the backstop attempting to catch a foul pop-up.
Hall slid into the fence, gashing her left knee and had to be removed. Freshman Kasey Rininger replaced Hall as Columbia Station (28-4) took a 1-0 lead.
“[Rininger] hadn’t played catcher very much at all this season,” Noble said. “I think she was a deer in the headlights for a few minutes and we had to get her to settle down.”
LaBrae responded in the fourth, tying the game as Skyler Gilanyi doubled and scored on a wild pitch. Hall also responded to the challenge, returning to the game on her bad knee, which she said required stitches and was “pretty ugly.”
“I knew I just couldn’t be out,” Hall said. “I wasn’t going to let it be my last game just sitting on the bench.”
With Hall’s re-emergence, Vikings pitcher Emily Dugan struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth.
“She’s the strongest girl I know and I’m gonna miss her the most,” Dugan said. “I’ve never met anyone with her integrity to play.”
The Raiders finally got to the sophomore pitcher in the sixth inning. Consecutive doubles by Kaley Marshall and Emma Sulivan gave Columbia Station a 2-1 advantage. An RBI triple from Christine Lyzen stretched the lead to 3-1.
“They’re a good hitting team and kind of figured out some things about her,” Noble said of Dugan, who allowed three runs (two earned) and struck out nine in six innings. “It came down to who was gonna hit first.”
Like Hall, LaBrae didn’t quit. Lauren Rutherford reached first on an error to begin the seventh inning. She came around to score on a base hit by Danielle Miracle, who led LaBrae with two hits.
But Miracle was stranded at third as Raiders pitcher Kailey Minarchick struck out Somer McCoy to end the game. Minarchick allowed only three hits in seven innings of work.
“I thought we were gonna pull it out, honestly,” Hall said. “But I’m so proud of everybody.”
With the loss, the Vikings finished their season with an 18-9-1 record.
“I’m so proud of them,” Noble said. “They came this far and I had no expectations after districts. I think they did a lot more than I was expecting them to do.”