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Ursuline, South Range tune up for next week’s districts
Preparations take precedence for Ursuline, S. Range
By Tom Williams
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
For Michael Kernan and Jeff DeRose, Friday’s Ursuline-South Range game was about getting their teams ready for the Mahoning Valley’s biggest week in softball.
“This was all about Tuesday,” said DeRose after his Raiders lost 7-1 to the Irish. “I told [my players before the game] here are the things you need to work on for Tuesday. I want to win this game, but you guys need to work on these things.”
DeRose was referencing Tuesday’s Division III district semifinal game against Springfield. South Range (18-9) has the top seed and is the district host. The other semifinalists are Waterloo and Crestview.
Ursuline (23-2) has the second seed for the Division II district tournament at Youngstown State University. The Irish will play third-seeded West Branch (24-3) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Top-seeded Poland (23-0) will play Cardinal Mooney (20-4) in the other semifinal.
“This was an excellent test and that’s just what we need,” Kernan said. “Everybody knows our bracket has got to be one of the toughest in the state.”
Bree Kohler pitched for the Raiders while Emily Holland (13-2) pitched six innings for the Irish before Emma Ericson finished.
Early in the week, Kernan accepted DeRose’s invitation to play and because he feels “we need to learn how to manufacture runs against quality pitchers. We need to see good batting lineups, good pitching.”
Today, Ursuline will travel to Ashtabula to play Edgewood, with Ericson getting the start on the mound.
Against the Raiders, the Irish took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Paige Ogden hit a two-out, two-run triple.
Kohler’s fourth-inning homer sliced the Ursuline lead to 2-1.
The Irish responded with two more runs in their next at-bat as Gia Caldrone hit a two-out, two-run double.
“Playing South Range was a really good thing for us, it helps us stay focused,” Caldrone said. “We need that good competition to prepare us for West Branch which is a very good team.
“We have to take care of business and play like we know how because our regular season doesn’t mean anything now — it’s playoff time,” Caldrone said. “We have to turn it on and go hard.”
Ursuline added three runs in the sixth inning, with Madelyn Miklandric and Destiny Goodnight getting RBIs.
“Ursuline is a really good team,” said outfielder Marlaina Slabach, one of three Raiders seniors. “Good competition really puts us into tournament mode.”
She said batting against successful pitchers like Holland and Ericson (10-0) helps prepare for Springfield.
“They were good pitchers to hit against,” said Slabach, the Raiders’ lead-off hitter who had two hits.
Because South Range’s prom is tonight, DeRose was happy to get this game.
“I want to play the best team that’s willing to play us,” DeRose said. “We hit it hard on a couple of things we need to clean up.
“It’s all about getting reps for our girls — it’s preparation for the tournament, that’s the mode we’re in right now.
“We could have practiced today, but I don’t think practice is as productive as actually playing a game.”