By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Mogadore players have a never-say-die attitude every time they take the field.

“They have the mentality from start to finish that they are never giving up, they aren’t going home, they will not quit,” head coach Calee Lung said. “That’s what I’ve been preaching since day one — if you have that mentality, you will go far.”

A perfect example was the Wildcats’ 7-6 victory at home on May 18 over Loudonville in a Division VI district semifinal. They squandered 3-0 and 5-3 leads only to find itself trailing by a run heading to the bottom of the fifth inning. They scored twice in that fifth frame and held on for their dear life.

Mogadore, which improved to 13-6 on the season, then defeated Black River on Friday, 4-2 at Perry, to capture the Division VI, Northeast 3 district championship.

It is the Wildcats’ third regional appearance in the last four years.

Leading the way offensively for Mogadore were sophomores Autumn Betts, the left fielder, and Layla Funk, a shortstop.

Betts doubled twice, singled, drove home four runs and scored once, while Funk had two singles and two runs.

“Autumn has been working very, very hard in the cages at our practices. She takes all of the drills we’re giving her very seriously, and it’s really paying off. It’s helped her confidence level skyrocket,” said the coach. “Layla has really taken on the role of the leader. She’s the voice of our team 100 percent. If she’s not out there, it’s dead quiet, and I can’t praise that enough. That’s exactly what we need in the game of softball. Layla knows the game well, so the girls always know what she’s saying is most likely correct. They look to her for that guidance.”

Pitching wise, sophomore Tali Bartholomew started and went the distance, giving up five hits while striking out four and walking two. Then, in the district title game, she again went the distance and struck out 12, allowing only two hits.

“Other than when she got into situations,” said Lung, “Natalya hit her spots and leaned on her defense a lot more than she has in the past. With her drop ball, she hit it, making Loudonville’s batters hit groundballs, and her defense had her back 100 percent.”

Mogadore qualified for the district semifinals five days earlier, on May 13, in a 5-2 sectional home win over East Canton. As in the Loudonville game, the Wildcats were down by a run entering the bottom of the fifth inning. This time, they tallied four runs and once again held on late.

“Our girls took it personally. They weren’t ready to lose,” Lung said. “So they did everything they could to make it happen. They grinded it out, they dug deep.”

Pacing the home team’s 11-hit attack was senior catcher Jayden Miller, who doubled, singled, had an RBI and scored a run.

“Jayden has been doing real well in situations with runners in scoring position,” said the coach, “being able to place that ball right over the shortstop’s or third baseman’s head and getting those runs in for us.”

Bartholomew and senior Embry Hudak each had two singles. Bartholomew scored once.

On the mound Bartholomew yielded six hits, fanned 10 and walked three.

“Natalya battled through,” said Lung. “She was hit early on, but she didn’t give up, came back and dug deep.”

STREETSBORO

For the first four innings, Streetsboro’s Division IV district semifinal at Norton saw three runs scored.

The Rockets trailed 2-1 in a pitching-dominated game.

Then, in the final three frames, there were 23 runs scored, with Streetsboro coming out on top in the end 14-12.

The visitors not only upped their record to 13-12, they also qualified for the program’s first-ever district championship game, where they lost to Metro Athletic Conference rival Field, 2-1, on Thursday.

In the district semifinal, Streetsboro took a 14-5 lead to the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Panthers quickly turned a smile to a frown on Rockets head coach LeRoy Moore’s face.

“I was getting a little nervous,” he said, “because Norton just kept putting together hits.”

Due to six errors by the home team, only four of Streetsboro’s runs were earned.

Junior catcher Olivia DeToro had a whale of a game at the plate with two doubles, a single, four RBIs, three runs and three stolen bases.

“Olivia had an awesome offensive game,” said Moore. “She was aggressive on the basepaths.”

Senior leftfielder Ashleigh Denvir and junior second baseman Kaelyn Malloy both had two singles and two runs. Malloy also knocked in a run.

Junior Amy Rein started and went five innings. She yielded four runs and eight hits while fanning three and walking four. Senior Payton Williams pitched the final two innings, giving up eight runs and eight hits with a strikeout and a walk.

“I made a pitching change in the sixth because it just looked like Amy was just running out of steam,” the coach said. “She pitched pretty well, held her own.”

Streetsboro qualified for districts May 14 with a 15-0 home sectional triumph over Garfield Heights Trinity that was called after 4.5 innings due to the 10-run rule.

Junior Olivia Knepper singled twice, drove in three runs and scored once.

Williams yielded just a single hit and struck out 11.

“Payton just overpowered Trinity,” said Moore.

CRESTWOOD

Crestwood sophomore Bella Stier yielded just one earned run while starting and going the distance May 19 in a Division IV district semifinal at Field.

Problem was, four costly errors by the Red Devils resulted in a 10-0 defeat that was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.

Crestwood, which finished the season with a 7-12 record, actually was staying right with the Falcons in a scoreless heading to the bottom of the third inning.

“Field’s pitcher threw really hard,” head coach Matt Helm said. “We were popping the ball up and got really lucky with the one hit we did get (a single by junior right fielder Rylee Duval-Chambers). Outside of the hitting, it was probably the best two-and-a-half innings we played all year. For some reason, we usually had one inning throughout the year that usually cost us something.”

Crestwood advanced to districts May 14 with a 21-10 victory at Pepper Pike Orange.

Eight Lions errors caused only seven of the Red Devils’ runs to be earned. The home team also issued a dozen walks.

Stier tripled, doubled twice, singled, drove home four runs and scored four times.

Freshman Jillian Hayes doubled, singled twice, had five RBIs and scored once.

Junior Grace Harper started on the hill and went five innings, giving up all 10 runs (but only four earned). Stier went the last two frames with two strikeouts and two walks.

Helm will lose outfielders Serena Wright an Audrey Julian to graduation, but he is thrilled at next year’s prospects.

“We have a lot of experience and a lot of talent coming back,” he said.

KENT ROOSEVELT

Kent Roosevelt was down 5-4 with freshman Emelia Gates second base and one out in the top of the seventh inning May 14 in a Division III sectional at Madison.

Two fine defensive plays by the Blue Streaks ended the game, stranding Gates, who had singled and stolen second.

The Rough Riders, who finished the season with a 6-12 record, squandered a 4-2 lead in the last of the fifth by committing two errors.

Pacing Kent Roosevelt’s 11-hit attack were seniors Skylar Lauck and Katlyn Ciolek, the designated player. Lauck tripled, singled twice and knocked in a run, while Ciolek had a double, a single and two RBIs.

“Skylar started out the year hot, went through a little bit of a mild slump in the middle of the season, but came on very strong at the end of the season. She did a great job in the leadoff spot,” head coach Jay Weiss said.

The coach, who will lose six seniors to graduation, felt the season was a bit disappointing but, by Kent Roosevelt’s recent bad luck, a success.

“We probably won more games than any Roosevelt team has since 2019,” he said. “We had some one- and two-run losses. The improvement was there. We came close so many times, but just couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

RAVENNA

Head coach Luke Darrah believes his Ravenna team members need to become smarter softball players this coming offseason.

“Our skill level is coming along and improved every week this season, but our softball I.Q. has to improve a lot.,” he said of his squad that finished 3-18 this year. “You have to watch a lot of softball — on TV, when you’re at a tournament. When you’re in a game, watch the other team. Try to gain softball knowledge. That’s what we’re lacking.”

The Ravens’ season concluded May 14 in a 24-0 loss at Marlington in a Division IV sectional.

The Dukes took control of the game with a 16-run second inning and collected 19 hits total.

“Marlington was good, but we didn’t play even to our level,” said Darrah. “We didn’t play very well, we didn’t have a lot of energy. Those things happen. Unfortunately, it happened to us in a tournament game. When you get as low a seed as we did and you don’t have options, that’s what you’re going to get. Marlington was much, much better than us.”

The coach, who will lose only one senior — Mallory Sterba — to graduation, feels that things are not as bleak as the record this season indicates.

“We have some things in the works for the youth program, and that’s going really, really well, so that’s very much a positive,” he said. “I think some of our kids will work hard in trying to improve their skills and their softball I.Q. We have some really good athletes, but they have to become better softball players.”