Taylor’s clutch double powers Raiders to title

May 22, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

NEW MIDDLETOWN

For the second straight season, the South Range High School softball team needed nine innings to oust Newton Falls in the Division III district championship game.

Unlike last year’s 2-1 pitchers’ duel, the Raiders’ 9-7 win on Thursday at Springfield High was an error-tinged slugfest. In the ninth inning, sophomore Codi Taylor made amends for an earlier miscue by doubling to deep left field to score Felecia Gaeta and Taylor Helon with two outs.

“A lot,” said Taylor when asked how much she was channeling frustration in that at-bat. “I knew I had to hit the ball. [We] want to go to state so I knew I had to do something.”

Taylor’s shot hit the swirling winds and left fielder Cammie Cochran, who had robbed Taylor of a bases-loaded extra-base hit with a running grab near the fence in the fourth inning, couldn’t corral the ball.

“It made me nervous [watching],” said Taylor said, who drove in three runs and induced an eighth inning error on a sacrifice bunt that produced another run.

“Two good-hitting teams today,” Newton Falls head coach Bill Pelyak said. “We knew they were going to hit, we knew we had to hit.”

Pelyak called Raiders ace Caragyn Yanek “a heckuva pitcher. She hasn’t been hit like that all year, I can pretty much guarantee that.”

Jenna Balas took the loss for the Tigers (22-8).

“Balas, to be honest, hasn’t been hit like that all year,” Pelyak said. “It was probably the best softball game I’ve ever been involved in. Errors aside, it was just a great game. [Our] kids are devasted but they’re kids, they’ll get over it.”

Senior Jordan Youngs had four of South Range’s 18 hits, including a two-run double in the third inning that put the Raiders ahead 4-1.

“it’s like a dream come true,” said Youngs of next week’s regional game against Elyria Catholic. It will be the sixth regional game Youngs has made in her varsity career (two volleyball, two basketball and two softball). “We have worked so hard and we have a great mindset.”

The Tigers’ 11 hits included doubles by Cochran, Kate Wainwright and Brooklyn Bungard.

In the fifth inning, the Tigers rallied after an unusual misplay. With the bases loaded and one out, Wainwright hit a ground ball to shortstop Sarah Moretti who threw to third base where Taylor wasn’t covering, allowing two runs to score.

Balas then hit a two-run single to put the Tigers ahead 5-4.

An inning later, Taylor helped the Raiders regain the lead. With two out, Youngs and Helon singled. the speedy Taylor reached on an error and Morgan Smith’s hit and another error made it 6-5.

Savanna Wilcox’s RBI single tied the game an inning later. The Raiders escaped further damage when Taylor recorded an unassisted double play.