The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Errors doom Elyria Catholic
Elyria Catholic’s quest for back-to-back district championships fell short on May 15 as it was defeated by topseeded Independence, 8-2, in a Division III Avon Lake District semifinal at Avon Lake High School.
The fourth-seeded Panthers (14-10), winners of seven of their last ten games, knew they were going to need a near-perfect effort to topple the red-hot Blue Devils (20-3) — winners of sixteen straight.
Unfortunately for Elyria Catholic and coach Megan Bashak, the effort was there, but a combination of errors and miscues inevitably doomed the Panthers.
“We talked a lot of about that, and we told them that is what we really need to pick up on. If we can get our bats going, that’s fine, but the defense has to pick it up. … They are not overpowering, but they do capitalize on the errors, and they did just that on us,” Bashak said.
The Panthers totaled five errors, but came out swinging in the first inning with four hits, including Stephanie Griffin’s RBI single, scoring her sister, Kaylie Griffin, to place Elyria Catholic on the board.
Despite a couple of hits here and there, the aggressive play seemed to wane for the defending district champions.
“That’s the hard thing about these girls. They get
in their heads big time,” Bashak said. “I figured they started off strong so they might keep going and going. But you could even see it throughout the game. The more errors they had fielding, the more it just got in their heads and tricked down in to everything. It was a domino effect.”
Elyria Catholic’s woes began in the bottom of the first when Independence’s Sarah Piteo scored on an errant throw over first base. Maggie George came across the plate a few batters later on a dropped ball at first.
The Panthers’ Ashley Cascio (10-8) found herself in trouble in the bottom of the third as the Blue Devils loaded the bases, tallying four runs, including Ashley Caputo’s RBI single and Jenna Suhy’s two-RBI single, giving Independence a 6-1 lead.
Bashak thought Cascio pitched one of her better games of the season, despite the defense being in disarray.
“Ash did not pitch bad at all. It’s just frustrating to see her, in her senior year, her last game, we just didn’t have it,” Bashak said. “It’s frustrating to see her work her butt off, but we just didn’t have the defense behind her.”
Cascio went six innings, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs while striking out three and walking one. She tallied a single and double in the batter’s box.
Independence’s Kim Rega (13-0) shook off a shaky first inning, going seven innings, allowing eight hits and two runs while striking out three and walking one.
Independence coach Garry Moore was glad to see his ace make the adjustment.
“Kim, my pitcher, didn’t have her best stuff in the first couple innings, but she found it,” Moore said. “When she gets that changeup, she’s almost unhittable because it gives so much for the batters to think about.”
Elyria Catholic tried to claw back in the top of the fourth with sacrifice fly from Lexi Szalai which scored Cascio, trimming the lead to 6-2.
Independence’s Morgan Pascarella’s sacrifice RBI, and Olivia Pallini’s home run off the top of the fence busted the game open to 8-2, cutting short Elyria Catholic’s hopes of an upset.
Independence advances to face second-seeded Wellington in the D-III Avon Lake District final on May 17 at 3:30 p.m. at Avon Lake High School.
As her team was exiting the dugout, Bashak recalled a roller coaster of a season.
“Very, very frustrating,” Bashak said. “We have had our big ups, and our big downs. A lot of people in different positions that we are going to have to work in. It’s going to take a while, but it’s going to be a step in right direction.”