The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Wildcats beat Holy Name, claim district title
Fortune drives in key run, Acord homers as Keystone tops Holy Name
Keystone celebrated another girls softball district championship on May 18 as the Wildcats keep redefining themselves with a gutsy 3-0 win over Holy Name at LaGrange to move on to regionals at Tiffin.
Not letting past successes define this year’s team, coach Jim Piazza’s group celebrated another district title with the same amount of celebration as if it was their first.
The Wildcats had to play mistake-free softball to earn another trip to the round of 16 in Division II.
It wasn’t easy for a team that has seen its fair share of blowout games, but the Keystone hitters were patient and waited for the right person to step up and give them the lead while Sydney Campbell tossed a two-hit gem.
Playing the role of the big hero was junior Shelby Fortune, whose RBI double in the bottom on the fourth sent home Autumn Acord for the difference in the ball game.
“My first at-bat I was very upset about, so I just wanted to bounce back and do better the next time, so I picked my pitch and went with it,” Fortune said.
“I’ve grown up with these girls. I’ve played softball with them since I was 4 or 5 and it means a lot to me to see us get better each year and reach another goal in life.”
Preaching to his team that someone would come through with a big knock, Piazza said he gave Fortune that little extra edge to get the result they needed with a runner on third.
“That’s what we told them, if somebody’s struggling, we have somebody there to pick you up and in that situation, that’s when I told Shelby that she’s been throwing a first pitch strike outside, just crowd the plate and go with it and she did,” Piazza said.
“That’s a credit to them for making that adjustment and then Autumn made the same adjustment and it carried over and the girls noticed it did work.”
Making the adjustment in her next at-bat, Acord broke open the one-run game with a towering nodoubt home run that gave the Wildcats a 3-0 edge in the sixth.
The run support meant the most to Campbell in the cirlce who did everything she could to keep the Green Wave bats cold.
“Because it put us ahead, I think everybody felt the momentum come our way and we just built off it the next couple of innings and our defense, we just made sure to stay strong and not make any errors and just get the job done,” Campbell said. “We always focus on the little stuff game by game and play by play, so we just really focus on fielding the ball before we throw it and go step-by-step and trust the process.”
Despite being a very well-established program, each team and group has its own identity and personality year by year. Seeing this group in so many phases of life, Piazza said that hoisting that district title trophy on their home field is not something they take for granted in the offseason and the games leading up to today.
“This group has been tremendous to work with since day one and when we started our conditioning program back in September, we had 30 girls doing conditioning three days a week for this and we told them that’s the work they’ve been putting in and this is what you’re going to enjoy,” Piazza said.
“They didn’t feel any pressure because they really believe in our system and in our tradition and I’ve got to give a ton of credit to them for staying focused for seven innings strong. That’s a very good team and we knew that coming in, but you’ve got to give credit to their girls for coming in and not panicking and putting pressure on each other.
“For them to stay focused and then make adjustments late in the game, I give all the credit to them.”