After a big first inning, Canfield’s Lindgren locks up title

July 3, 2019 at 12:05a.m.

BOARDMAN

After getting a big lead, Canfield turned up the heat.

Paris Lindgren ended any chance of a Boardman comeback with three strong innings in relief as Canfiled defeated Boardman 6-1 for the Ohio District 2 Little League Softball 12-and-under title Tuesday night.

“It was good [to start with the lead],” Lindgren said. “I knew my infield would do good and I knew my outfield would do good.”

Lindgren relieved Vita Kelty in the top of the fourth with a 6-1 lead. She didn’t give up any hits or walks for the rest of the contest. The only base runner she allowed was due to an error and she struck out six.

“That’s what we had planned. We wanted Vita to go first and have Paris come in,” Canfield coach Tim Kelty. “Vita throws a lot of junk and Paris throws with a lot of heat. It worked out and we’re really happy.”

All of Canfield’s runs came in the first inning. Faith Morrell had a single, a double, a stolen base, scored a run and had two RBIs during that stretch.

“The pitching was perfect. It was down the middle and it was just my speed,” Morrell said. “My team was cheering on and that really helped.”

Katie Koulianos hit an RBI single and Canfield’s other three runs came scored on two Boardman errors.

“It was great. It really helped us not be down on ourselves,” Morrell said of the team’s hot hitting to start the game.

Canfield totaled three hits while Boardman had three errors.

“It was nerves. They had those pre-game jitters and they took that into the first inning and we couldn’t recover,” Boardman coach Ralph Rivera said. “Once we got out of that inning, they settled down and we were fine.

“In innings two through six, we played our game: throw strikes and let the batters put the ball in play let the defense play.”

Canfield only had one more hit for the rest of the game after the first inning. After entering the game for Lilly Ditz, Boardman pitcher Leah Haberger gave up one hit and had zero walks with a strikeout.

Boardman’s lone run came in the top of the third when Ditz singled to Alex Ward.

“It was a great season,” Rivera said. “It’s been a while since a Boardman team played for a championship. We just came up a little bit short.”

Kelty conceded a run on four hits and two walks while striking out one for Canfield.

Canfield previously beat Boardman 3-0 in the semifinal round to push Boardman into the consolation bracket with a 7-3 win against Poland to force a rematch.

Canfield travels to Wheelersburg on Saturday to start the state tournament.

“This team, we have a good split [of 11 and 12-year-olds]. Last year, the 12s went [to state] and lost to Wheelersburg. Wheelersburg went on to win the national championship against Taiwan, so we’ve got a good team,” Tim Kelty said. “Their knowledge of the game makes practices so much easier.”

Canfield went through the entire tournament giving up two runs through four games to prove the doubters wrong, Kelty said.

“There seemed to be a lot of talk from other teams about how we were down and that motivated us. We wanted to get after it from the get-go and that’s what we did,” Kelty said. “I don’t why those other communities would talk about us, but the road to a championship always goes through Canfield. I’m not trying to be arrogant, it just is that way.”