The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
North Ridgeville has pair of aces
Barnhart, Behlke have two of top three ERAs in area
North Ridgeville has had a dominant season as the Division I tournament approaches.
The offensive is hitting well. Most notably, their pitching duo of Autumn Behlke and Katie Barnhart have lived up to the hype under new head coach Amy McMillan.
“Feel like Amy (McMillan) has done a great job,” Behlke said. “She has been keeping all of us in the game, encouraging us and not degrading us at all. … The whole coaching staff has been a huge contributor to our success this year.”
North Ridgeville is 19-2 and needs a win over Avon Lake to secure its second consecutive Southwestern Conference co-championship with Amherst after the Comets secured their share.
They have two of the top three lowest earned run averages in The Morning Journal coverage area, showing why they are highly recruited pitchers going to Youngstown State for Behlke (1.105 ERA) and Ohio Dominican for Barnhart (1.361). Avon’s Kayla Dykin (1.091) is the only pitcher with a lower ERA.
“We had those (pitchers) together for three years,” McMillan said. “That combination together is huge. Even in (Southwestern Conference) play. One time, you throw one, one time, you throw the other. Nobody knows what (pitcher) they are going to get.”
The best examples of this would be against SWC contenders Amherst and Avon. Barnhart allowed one run at home to defeat the Eagles, 2-1, off of a walkoff bunt from Emily Lime and Behlke, who allowed one home run from Kayla Dykin to come out with an 8-2 win.
“We do not have a No. 1 pitcher. (Barnhart and Behlke) are both No. 1 (options),” McMillan said.
“That combination of those two. There is not one that is better than the other. They both bring their own separate thing. The similarity of the two is that they both have the drive and both want the ball.”
The two aces have a great relationship on and off the diamond, which increases production as one is willing to give pointers to the other as Barnhart plays third base and Behlke is on the first base when the other is starting.
“I think during the game, we know what the other is going through, because we have been in that position before as well,” Barnhart said. “I think we know how to complement each other. If we are struggling a little bit, we know what the right thing to say is. We know what we want to hear and we’ll say those things just to pick each other up and have their backs.”
Barnhart is also one of the area’s leaders in strikeouts with 111. Behlke started her season late in the circle after dealing with a foot injury that delayed her first start to April 12. She has 77 on the season with 44 1/3 innings pitched.
At the plate, Behlke (.429 batting average) and Barnhart (.461) have the highest batting averages for the Rangers, who average nine runs per game. They also share the team high in home runs (four) and runs batted in (23).
Their offense is joined Leah Vandrasik (.400) and Allie Chinchar (.397), who have 20 or more RBI.
If teams can catch both pitchers on an off day, McMillan can always throw in Naomi Bottomlee and Vandrasik, showing that North Ridgeville is four-deep in the bullpen.
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