Softball State Semifinal: Wheelersburg gets win over Cardington in No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle

AKRON — Wheelersburg proved themselves worthy.

In a battle of the Ohio's top two Division III softball programs, No. 1 Wheelersburg got by No. 2 Cardington 5-2 in a state semifinal game Friday night at Akron's Firestone Stadium.

"We felt like we prepared a lot for this game," Wheelersburg coach Teresa Ruby said. "The kids executed it exactly the way we wanted them to. I think it was a great game between two excellent teams."

Wheelersburg was making its fifth Final Four appearance since 2015 and its second state semifinal game in a row, while Cardington was playing in its fourth state tournament since 2017.

The two met in the 2017 state semifinals with the southern Pirates knocking off the northern Pirates 10-1. While the end result was the same, the rematch was much closer.

"They’re a really good team. It was 1 vs. 2 for a reason," Cardington coach Tod Brininger said. "There were going to be a couple things that determine the game, and there were. We made too many mistakes. You just can’t make mistakes like that when you play a team like that, and they didn’t make any against us. That was the deciding factor of the game."

Both teams were known to produce runs this season with Cardington (24-5) averaging 10.7 per game and Wheelersburg (26-1) averaging 13.5. Both teams dominated their regionals, as Cardington beat Tinora and Van Buren 43-8 and the southern Pirates defeated Tusky Valley and Portsmouth West 28-2.

But Friday's showdown was not a slugfest.

Wheelersburg scored a run in the first inning without getting a hit, taking advantage of an error and three walks while being helped on two tough foul balls that were in-and-out of Cardington gloves to extend the inning.

Nevertheless, Cardington answered right back in the bottom of the first when Hailee Edgell hit a single and Riley Burchett followed with a home run to left field for a 2-1 lead.

"I’ve hit a lot, so you kind of get a feeling as to when you hit it, where it’s going to go or if it’s going out. It’s a great feeling," Burchett said.

Adding to the moment was the fact that Burchett and Wheelersburg pitcher AndiJo Howard are travel softball teammates in the offseason.

"She knows what I throw, and she was probably was waiting back on it," Howard said.

Indeed she did.

Burchett knew a changeup was coming her way and put it away.

"It was kind of a cool moment for us to go out there and battle for a title like this," Burchett said. "I really wasn’t thinking to try to go out and get a home run. I was just trying to get a hit with a runner on and two outs.

"I know a lot of pitches that she throws, and I know what to expect coming in. I think I had a good approach. I just went out there to try to do my best."

The northern Pirates only added two more hits the rest of the way.

"After the first inning, she started working the outside corner a lot for us," Burchett said of Howard's effectiveness. "We were struggling with that and not making solid contact and swinging at a lot of pitches that were up in the zone and maybe not strikes. I think if we would have had a more disciplined approach, we would have done better."

That's how Brininger saw it as his team could not string hits together following Burchett's home run.

"Like Riley said, we chased some balls out of the zone that normally we’re not going to chase. She’s not overpowering, but she’s crafty and she gets spots," Brininger said. "She kept creeping farther and farther out, and she got a couple calls on those outside pitches, so then hitters start thinking I’ve got to swing at something that’s out of my reach and out of my comfort zone. Anytime a pitcher gets a couple calls and then keeps moving out, it makes it real difficult."

Besides giving up just four hits, Howard didn't walk anyone and struck out five. Of her 91 pitches, 65 were strikes.

"They made every play you could ask for," Howard said of her defense that committed only one error. "Really, I was going to hit my spots and know they’d have my back."

Wheelersburg tied it at 2-2 in the third inning when Macee Eaton scored on a double steal.

It stayed 2-2 until the fifth inning when Eaton — who had been intentionally walked in her first two at-bats due to her 19 home runs this season — came to the plate with one on and nobody out.

This time Brininger elected to pitch to the slugger.

"There was a thought," Brininger said of walking her again. "There were no outs and I did not want to put two runners on with no outs in the inning. We have an all-state pitcher. She’s an all-state kid. She got those first two quick strikes, and she just left that one a little bit too much on the plate on an 0-2 count."

Eaton's line shot RBI double to right field made it 3-2 and then she scored after a wild pitch and error for a 4-2 edge.

"I worked on it all season, pretty much just understanding that sometimes they don’t want to pitch to me. Every time they mess up, I want to take the opportunity to crush it," Eaton said.

Ruby said Haley Myers leading off the inning with a single proved to be the key moment for the game-changing inning.

"I knew they would probably walk (Easton) at the beginning of the game, but I knew the later we got in the game, if we could get people on base and it was a tight game, that at some time, they’d have to pitch to her. Kudos to Haley Myers for getting on base in front of her," Ruby said.

Wheelersburg added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning when Myers singled again and came home on a Sydney Skiver double.

"I think we’ve been playing well for a little while. On this stage to have this execution, I’m thrilled," Ruby said.

Wheelersburg was to play unranked Tuslaw Saturday at 7 p.m. for the D-III softball championship. Tuslaw beat Miami East 6-1 in the first semifinal game on Friday.

As for Cardington, Mac Linkous and Abbi Hardwick were the other two Pirates with hits. Genevieve Longsdorf, returning from a back-and-hip injury that flared up during the regional final, pitched a complete game seven-hitter with three earned runs, four walks and two strikeouts. She threw 102 pitches with 70 strikes. The defense committed three errors behind her.

"We battled the whole game. It just wasn’t our day," Brininger said.

It was the southern Pirates' day.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Softball State Semifinal: Wheelersburg gets win over Cardington