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Kovach’s home run sparks Canfield rout
By DAN HINER
NILES
Last month, Canfield freshman Kalin Kovach was on the junior varsity softball team. But one swing from Kovach helped the top-seeded Cardinals pick up a 13-1 win over Boardman in a Division I district semifinal.
With one out and runners on first and second and the Cardinals up 1-0, Kovach hit a long three-run home run to left field to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Kovach finished the game going 3 for 3 with five RBIs and a run scored.
“I think it just kinda got everybody excited and in the mood,” Kovach said. “We know we could hit this pitcher and I think it helped them out just to boost their confidence and excitement and everybody just started hitting after that.”
The wheels started coming off for the Spartans shortly after. The Cardinals combined to score nine runs on seven hits and four walks after sending 13 batters to the plate in the second inning alone. Canfield extended its lead to 10-0 heading into the third inning.
“We played them twice in the regular season. The first time we played them at their place, we hit it well,” Canfield head coach Ray Melewski said. “Then they came to our place the next day and we did not hit well. We knew it. We had one hit that game and we knew in this game, we had to put the ball in play. Put the ball in play and things will happen for us.”
Canfield (18-7, 8-4 in the All-American Conference) added a few more insurance runs in the third. With one out, back-to-back batters reached base after two consecutive errors. Cardinals catcher Amelia Manenti followed up the miscues with a two-run single that dropped out of reach of three Spartans down the left-field line.
Manenti later scored in the inning on a RBI single by Cardinals third baseman Chloe Cruz to extend the lead to 13-0.
But it wasn’t all offense for the Cardinals. Canfield pitcher Kayla Troxil shut down the Spartans from the start. Troxil allowed four hits and two walks in five innings. Boardman didn’t score its first run until the top of the fourth inning.
“Boardman’s a very good hitting team if you give them something to hit,” Troxil said. “As long as you keep them off-balance and hit your spots with some off-speed and movement pitches, you can be successful.”
Boardman (15-12, 6-7) scored its only run after junior Savanna Dempsey hit a one-out double to the centerfield wall. One batter later, pitcher Sydney Aey drove in Dempsey on a single up the middle.
Dempsey went 2 for 2. The RBI single was Aey’s only at-bat.
“Kayla’s my senior. I gave her the ball and she had her control,” Melewski said. “She was hitting her spots. She struggled with a couple batters, but basically her rise ball was working well outside. Her changeup was working real well. She hit the right spots in the right times and we got the batters to do what we wanted them to do.”
For Melewski, it didn’t matter that his team was playing an hour away at Solon High School or that he was playing a conference rival. He was only concerned about winning the game and moving on to the district championship game.
“We were at a district meeting last night, me and coach [Mike] Trell from Boardman, and we both talked about coming up her to play when we could just play on a neutral site at home,” Melewski said. “But it didn’t matter. You put us on any field and we’ll play anywhere we want to play. I told them I don’t care what field we play on. Whoever’s in that opposite dugout, that’s the only thing I’m concerned about.”