Grove City graduates to state semifinal
Coach Ted Williams smiled and shook his head in wonder while watching his Grove City softball team line up for the trophy presentation after a Division I regional championship game.
Behind a three-hitter by left-hander Emma Cornell, the Greyhounds carved out a 4-0 victory over Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division rival Gahanna yesterday at Ohio State’s Buckeye Field.
The Greyhounds, who qualified for their seventh state tournament and first since 2010, played with joy rather than with the fear of failure.
“These kids were about too loose,” Williams said. “They are a crazy group of girls. They chill. They don’t get too uptight.” How loose? Williams had to warn six seniors to hurry up and get on the bus because graduation ceremonies were to begin in less than an hour at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It didn’t matter that they were sweaty, dusty and
wearing eye black.
“We’re wearing this underneath our cap and gowns,” Cornell said. “We’re ready to go.”
Grove City (25-6) had every right to get stage fright playing Gahanna (28-3) for the third time this season. The Greyhounds won the first game 13-1 in five innings on April 16, but lost a three-run lead in losing the second 8-4 on May 5.
There were no worries with Cornell on top of her game throwing a hard screwball. She struck out nine, didn’t walk a batter and allowed two singles to Becca Gavin and one to Alyson Shaw.
“When you keep those two pretty quiet, good things will happen,” Williams said.
Cornell was modest talking about her big game.
“I just know I’ve had some good games the past few weeks,” she said. “The team needed me and I wanted to do it for my team. My screwball really was working.”
Grove City got a run in the first inning, when Rachael Ash singled to center with one out, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Jordan Kennaw.
The Greyhounds scored three runs on four hits in the fifth. Ash and Destini Ewing had RBI doubles and Kennaw an RBI single. Kennaw said attitude as much as talent wins for the team.
“We like to keep it loose before the game,” she said. “If you play really tight, that can throw you off. We’re just playing a game we’ve been playing since we were 8 years old. There is no better feeling than this. We’re representing our school in athletics and academics.”
Gahanna had a chance to get back into the game in the sixth, when Shaw singled with one out and Gavin reached on a twoout error. The large crowd rose when Brittany Oldaker hit a towering fly to left-center with runners on second and third after stolen bases. Center fielder Katlyn Gleich, a junior, made a running catch just before bumping against the wall. As she was running, Gleich thought about Kennaw telling her that she is capable of going back on the ball to catch it as well as she does charging it.
“I wasn’t worried about the wall,” Gleich said. “If I run into it, I run into it. I knew where I was.”
What if the ball was against the wall?
“Well, then, I was climbing it,” she said.