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Navarre Fairless eliminates Canfield
Photo
The ball rolls away from Canfield’s right fielder Sydney Opladen after a diving attempt in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s Division II regional semifinal against Navarre Fairless at Firestone Stadium in Akron. On the play, Opladen sprinted toward center where the ball glanced off the top of her glove. The Cardinals fell 6-2 to the Falcons.
By Tom Williams
AKRON
The scoreboard at Firestone Stadium suggested that Canfield’s 6-2 loss to Navarre Fairless in Wednesday’s Division II regional semifinal was not close.
To be fair, the Cardinals came within inches of keeping the Falcons within striking distance.
Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the sixth inning, the Falcons had the bases loaded and pinch-hitter Kylie Rose at the plate.
Rose lined Abby Baker’s 2-1 pitch into right-center field. Right fielder Sydney Opladen tracked it down with a sprint then dove. The ball struck the top of her glove then glanced off it for a double, clearing the bases and giving the Falcons a four-run cushion.
“Oh she ran, she covered a lot of area,” Canfield coach Ray Melewski said. “When it hit her glove, I thought she had it.
“It was great hustle on Sydney’s part.”
Opladen said called the play “an iffy one. I probably should have gotten a bigger jump when I dove for it.”
To be clear, that play was not the reason why the Cards (19-8), in their first regional appearance since 2008, lost. The Falcons (25-4) had clutch hits, took advantage of four Canfield errors and benefitted from a strong performance by sophomore pitcher Kelly Hysong (19-4).
The Cards were in trouble right from the start. On the third pitch of the game, Hysong tripled then scored on a wild relay.
It could have been much worse. The Falcons loaded the bases with Logan Bing’s double, an infield error and a walk, but Baker escaped by inducing a fielder’s choice and a pop-out.
Melewski said the Cards had too much adrenaline at the start.
“Nerves [also] were a little bit a part of it,” Melewski said.
At the plate, the Cards struggled to connect early. In the first three innings, Hysong struck out eight. She finished with 11 strikeouts, one walk and one hit-batsman.
“She’s a great pitcher,” Baker said. “We haven’t seen one like that for a while. We just weren’t ready for it.”
Baker agreed it was similar to facing Poland’s Erin Gabriel (University of Tennessee) in her early high school years.
“We were definitely having a hard time against her like we did with Erin,” said Baker, who added that Gabriel “had a little more movement on her ball.”
Sophomore Rachel Tinkey hit two doubles for half of Canfield’s hits.
“She was a great pitcher, moving the ball around a lot,” Tinkey said. “She had a nice riseball.”
Tinkey’s first double came with two outs in the first inning. The second one scored Opladen for Canfield’s first run in the sixth inning.
With two outs, Baker singled on the eighth pitch of her at-bat to score Tinkey and slice the Falcons’ lead to 4-2.
“We knew she was going to be tough,” said Melewski of Hysong, adding that he was pleased with the rally. “They did not quit and that’s what made me proud of them.”