Jackson-Milton outslugs Mineral Ridge
By Brandon Judeh
Lisbon
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with Jackson-Milton clinging to a slim lead, senior pitcher Paije Kiraly stepped off the mound and thought to herself, “Is this ever going to end?”
Fortunately for her the next batter hit a comebacker right to her, she tossed it to first and the Bluejays celebrated their second consecutive Division IV district title after defeating Mineral Ridge in a 17-14 thriller.
“It’s such a relief our offense can put up big numbers like they did today,” Kiraly said. “That last inning was torture for me, the final three outs are always the hardest.”
The Bluejays will meet the winner of the Shelby district in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 30 at Kent State Unuversity.
Jackson-Milton (21-8) was nursing a 10-9 lead heading into the top of the seventh when its offense erupted for seven one-out runs after a throwing error by the Rams.
After the mishap, the Bluejays sent 12 girls to the plate and collected seven hits.
Madison Tomaino started the onslaught with an RBI triple, Caitlyn Carney followed with an RBI single and Beth Ritchie finished the inning with a clutch two-run single — her third hit — to give Jackson-Milton a comfortable lead.
But Mineral Ridge (12-10) would not go away quietly.
Emily Reese started a Rams rally with a two-run triple and Peyton Allen cut the deficit to three with a two-out two run double, but Kiraly (21-8) eventually was able to escape.
“This was an all-around team effort,” Jackson-Milton coach Kelly Snowden said. “One through nine hit great for us. The offense really came through today.”
Carney finished the game 3 for 5 with four RBIs and belted her 10th home run of the year to dead center field in the second inning.
Carney owns the school record for home runs and RBIs.
“I’m always trying to raise my own bar higher and I set my goals high and try to accomplish each one along with team goals,” she said.
Both teams scored at least one run in every inning, but it wasn’t enough for the Rams, who committed nine crucial errors over the course of the game.
“Both teams hit well, but in that last inning we made six errors and that really killed us,” Mineral Ridge coach Bill Croft said. “But it was a good game. We just made too many mistakes.”
Most of Jackson-Milton’s players have now won a total of four district championships over the past two seasons, two in volleyball and now two in softball.
“It means a lot to us,” Kiraly said. “We all work so well together and all of our hard work has paid off. Now hopefully we can make it further than we did last season.”
Ritchie drove in four runs and Tomaino had two triples and a double for the Bluejays.
Allie Watkins went 3 for 4 with a two-run homer for the Rams and Allen hit for the cycle and had four RBIs.