The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria escapes with victory
There were flashbacks to the 2017 state championship game happening all along the Elyria side, from the players and coaches to the spectators in the bleachers, and in the end it was the same result: a win.
The No. 2 Pioneers gave up a 3-0 lead and headed to the bottom of the seventh inning tied, 3-3, with third-seeded Avon in the district semifinal May 14 before chaos ensued minutes later.
Izzy St. Peter led off the inning with a double for Elyria, followed by an Adrian Petrisko single. The runners found themselves on second and third when Jessica Chapman hit a sacrifice fly to the Avon second baseman and Jaylah Howard, pinch running for St. Peter, took off for home.
The throw missed, the tag wasn’t in time and Howard seemingly slid safely to score the gamewinning run, sending the Pioneers to their fourth-straight district championship game.
But Avon coach Ken Matuszak appealed Howard left third base early and the umpires agreed. They then ruled a triple play, which would’ve sent the game to extra innings, but an appeal fromElyria assistant coach John Wallace had the umpires changing the ruling again.
Howard was out, but Petrisko was ruled safe from second, having not stopped running even when the game appeared to be over, and Elyria did in fact escape with a 4-3 win and a chance at a third-straight district title.
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“It was a flashback to two years ago in the state finals,” Wallace, filling in for head coach Ken Fenik, said.
“Honestly I thought I was golden, I told the runner to go because I thought it was in her glove already. … We thought we’d give it a shot with no outs then once they ruled her out on an appeal, I yelled for her to tag anyway and she just kept going because we thought we won the game and thank god she touched home plate.”
It was a finish as wild as when the Pioneers won the 2016 state championship over Lebanon on a walk-off obstruction call, but a win is a win come tournament time and this team knows that as much as any other.
“They didn’t quit,” Wallace said. “They even said in the huddle right before they went up to bat, they said ‘ We’re winning this right now.’ … Win No. 20? I’ll take it. We never thought we’d get to 20 but we got there.”
Elyria jumped out to an early 2- 0 lead in the first inning thanks to another Chapman sacrifice fly and a home run off the bat of Damia Parks that left no doubt the second she made contact.
Parks led the offense, going 2-for-3 with two runs and three stolen bases.
“I know my first hit I just wanted to hit the ball, then I realized I had to calm down and I just let it flow,” Parks said.
Madison Olszewski’s RBI double added a crucial run in the third inning, as the Pioneers weren’t able to get any across from that point until the final run that has many from both teams still a bit confused.
But Avon never gave up despite how well St. Peter pitched much of the game, and Ashlee Torbert’s tworun double sparked the Eagles’ offense in the top of the sixth before Kayla Dykin hit an RBI single to tie the game.
The Eagles finish 16-6. “The girls played tough,” Matuszak said. “Our girls fought the whole time. … We stayed the course and we believed in each other.”