Champion one win from state softball title

June 5, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

AKRON

Trailing by five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the North Union High School softball team still had Champion’s full attention. Scoring twice, the Ladycats brought the potential tying run to the plate in Thursday’s Division III state semifinal at Firestone Stadium.

Asked why she didn’t walk out to the mound to calm matters, Champion head coach Cheryl Weaver felt that her senior ace Haylee Gardiner could escape the jam.

“I didn’t think I needed to,” Weaver said. “I have a lot of faith in Haylee and a lot of faith in [sophomore catcher] Molly [Williams]. I just felt like that it was going to be enough [of a] lead.

“Yeah, we made it exciting in the seventh inning,” said Weaver after the Flashes hung on for a 6-3 victory. With two outs and runners at second and third base, North Union’s Sidney Girton fouled off four two-strike pitches. On the 10th pitch of her at-bat, she hit a fly ball to left fielder Alayna Fell to end the game.

The victory advances the Golden Flashes (29-4) to Saturday’s state title game against an old foe — Bloom-Carroll (27-4). It’s the Golden Flashes’ third state title game in five seasons. They were state champions in 2011 and 2012. Three years ago, Champion defeated Bloom-Carroll, 2-0, for the crown.

Weaver said her belief in Gardiner (17-2) and Williams, who calls the pitches, didn’t waver in the seventh inning.

“The girls in the dugout beside me [were] on the ground holding their stomachs,” Weaver said. “[But] I still had a good feeling.”

Gardiner said their strategy was to constantly change pitches.

“You just can’t have the same pitch coming at them twice,” Gardiner said. “It definitely felt great [getting] that last out. She was definitely battling.”

The Flashes rolled early, with sophomore McKenzie Zigmont homering on the second pitch of the game. Facing freshman Madison Wedding (18-4), Zigmont sent the ball to deep center field where Abby Davis saw it bounce out of her glove and over the fence for a 1-0 lead.

“Everyone was telling me, ‘lead-off home run, lead-off home run,’” said Zigmont, who said she’s been struggling at the plate in recent games. “Everybody was kidding, but I did it. It felt really good.

“I didn’t have very much confidence going into the [batter’s] box these last few games, but I felt really good today,” said Zigmont, who finished with three hits.

The game took a major turn in the top of the third inning when the Flashes batted around and scored five times. Zigmont led off with a single to right field and took second on an error. With one out, Megan Turner, Williams, Brittany Allen and Fall hit RBI singles, then Kiersten Jones hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-0 lead.

“They were great hits, out of our reach,” North Union head coach Dawn Draper said.

Gardiner said the huge advantage “gives me confidence on the mound. I can mix up my pitches more knowing that we have those insurance runs.”

Maddison Ruhl led off the Ladycats’ third inning with a deep fly ball to left field. Draper said Fell’s leaping grab was one of the biggest outs of the game.

“That was a great defensive play,” said Draper, who added that she wishes she had not tested Zigmont and Turner when Kelsea Marvin doubled to right field to lead off the fourth inning. Turner took Zigmont’s throw and relayed a strike to Allen, who tagged the sliding Marvin at third base.

“We’ve been aggressive all year, we’re not going to change who we are,” Draper said. “I’ll think about that [decision] for the next year.”

Also in that frame, Girton singled and scored on Logan Martino’s hit.

The Flashes limited the damage from Ladycats’ leadoff hitter Emily Clark, who will play for Ohio State next spring. In the first inning, Clark took second base on a two-base throwing error but was stranded at third when Gardiner struck out Avery Clark.

In the fourth inning, the Ladycats had runners at second and third when Clark ended the inning with a fly ball to a very deep Alex Steigerwald in center field.

In the seventh inning, Clark doubled to score Maddux Hughes then came home on Marvin’s sacrifice fly to Zigmont.

Gardiner said she felt “more excitement than nerves” being challenged by Clark. “I was throwing the same pitches no matter [who] was up.”

Weaver was pleased with the support Gardiner received.

“Our defense stole a lot of balls and made some fabulous outs,” the 16-year head coach said. “They did wonderfully.”