The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cougars’ postseason run ends
After starting postseason under .500, Lake Catholic’s bid for the state tournament ends with loss to Akron Hoban in regional final
AKRON » The magical postseason of the Lake Catholic softball team came to an end on May 27.
Laney Jones pitched a three-hitter, striking out 12, and also hit a home run, leading Akron Hoban to a 4-2 win over the Cougars in the Division II regional championship game at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
It was the third time this season
Hoban (23-3) defeated Lake Catholic, the other two coming in North Coast League action.
The most recent victory sends the Knights to the state tournament for the second straight year, while ending the Cougars’ fourgame postseason winning streak.
Lake Catholic (13-11) entered the postseason with a losing record (9-11), but upset the secondseeded (NDCL) and fourth-seeded (Jefferson) teams to advance to the regional tournament for the first time since 2010 — then upset favored Richfield Revere in a regional semifinal earlier this week.
“Cinderella,” said Lake Catholic coach Jim Galloway, glancing up at the scoreboard. “The magic just ran out a little at the end.”
There were plenty of tears after Lake Catholic collected the regional runner-up trophy, but senior Nicole Bush made sure to count blessings.
“This year — the entire thing — has been amazing,” she said. “Not knowing whether we’d be here or not. And then getting here. It shows you anything can happen. It was great.”
Hoban held a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Jones’ mammoth second-inning home run to left field, when things really got interesting in the later innings.
With two outs in the sixth, the Knights got some insurance runs they needed.
Jones doubled, then scored on a throwing error at first base that would have gotten Lake Catholic out of the inning.
Chloe Weidrick followed with a single to score Clark to make it 3-0. And when
Ashley Matousek doubled to deep center, Weidrick scored for a 4-0 lead.
It was the second game in a row Hoban scored three runs in the sixth inning, duplicating the feat it accomplished in a 6-5 win over Marlington in the regional semifinal.
Up until that point, Lake Catholic starter Lauren Bush had only surrendered two hits — Jones’ home run and a fourth-inning triple by Alex Whitmore.
“Sometimes it takes them an inning or two to get used to the pitching,” Hoban coach Frank Voss said. “They’re pretty good to adjusting to pitching. In this situation, it was a combination of pressure and (Lake Catholic’s) pitching.” Lake Catholic didn’t fold. Showing a similar comeback effort that propelled them over Revere, the Cougars rallied.
Nicole Bush tripled to left, then scored on an error. A short while later, Amanda Maurer, who reached on a fielder’s choice, scored on a single to right by Jamie Vargo.
But with the tying run at the plate, Jones (one walk, 12 strikeouts) fanned the final batter of the game.
“We know how to fight to the end,” Lauren Bush said of the late rally.
“We had to (rally),” Nicole Bush said. “It was go big or go home.”
The rally fell short, which meant the Cougars were going home.
Voss, whose team collected four extra-base hits among their six hits, credited Lake Catholic.
“They’re a very tough team,” he said. “We played hard, they played hard. It was a good day for softball.”
Galloway lamented a few inches that hurt his team — a pitch by Lauren Bush that caught too much of the plate to allow Jones to hit an early home run, and a few inches on a sixth-inning throw that went for an error and opened the flood gates for a three-run inning.
“But right now, I want to celebrate the achievement these kids have done,” Galloway said.
Galloway said he “would have laughed my head off” if someone told him prior to the season his team would be regional runner-up. But as the season wore on, the team gained momentum and confidence for a fairy tale run.