Ashlyn Severns, Marissa Charton power Tallmadge to a OHSAA softball district championship

Tallmadge softball coach Brittany Lightel experienced a sense of déjà vu Thursday at Firestone Stadium.

Copley led Tallmadge by one run through four innings in a Division II district final when Lightel harkened back to moments from last year when the Blue Devils earned comeback wins en route to a state championship victory over Canfield at Firestone Stadium.

Why not another come-from-behind win?

Seniors Ashlyn Severns, Sydney Becks and Kathryn Headrick were up for the challenge.

And so were juniors Marissa Charton, Leila Staszak, Katie Huth and Larissa Taylor as Tallmadge rallied to win 6-3 over Copley.

"Being in a similar situation last year when we were here playing against Greenville [in a state semifinal], we were down, and I think they just feed off of each other's energy," Lightel said. "We just needed a couple of players to stay up and then when we have one hit, one turns into two, two turns into three.

"They are really, really good at building on each other's energy, especially offensively."

Tallmadge (21-7) advanced to meet Buckeye in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Nordonia. Buckeye beat Northwest 7-2 in a district final Thursday at Willig Park in Canton.

"We knew we had three more chances to go to bat and we just got a fire under out butt and we started ripping the ball," said Taylor, who pitched the final three innings and got the win.

"We knew we had to win. We didn't want to lose. We were, like, 'We are state champs. We are better than this. We can come back. We are a comeback team.' I think we knew we had it in us, and we started hitting the ball."

Severns smacked a double to right center that scored Becks and Staszak in the bottom of the fifth inning.

"For some reason, this tends to happen to me a lot," said Severns, who had the walk-off hit against Greenville last year when Tallmadge won 6-5 after trailing 5-0. "I get put in pressure situations. I guess you can say I am used to it by now. I didn't really think about anything and I just played the game."

Charton drilled a triple to right center to score junior pinch runners Lily Bond and Brooke Moore in the sixth. Bond was running for Huth, who hit a double. Moore entered to run for Headrick, who hit a single.

"I knew I needed to get a hit in that moment," Charton said. "I was really feeling the adrenaline. I normally do well under pressure, and it just happened."

Tallmadge sophomore Sophie Worthington added a single in the sixth to score Charton.

"There were definitely nerves," Huth said of facing a deficit. "When we had our huddle, we were, like, 'We gotta stay up.' We noticed that when we were loud and up in the dugout, it kind of rattled them a little bit in the field. We knew we had to stay up and be positive the whole time."

Tallmadge seniors Becks, Headrick, Severns, Lexi Gray, Riley Jackson, Randall Voss and Mia Zappola accepted the district championship trophy.

"We work together very well and we don't let things get to us," Severns said.

Tallmadge took a 1-0 in the second. Junior Payton Almond lined a double to right and Kiera Staszak entered to run. Huth dropped a sacrifice bunt and Headrick laid down a squeeze bunt to score Staszak.

"I am really proud of our team for coming out and not stopping," Copley senior Morgan Beach said. "We just kept fighting."

Copley (14-8) took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Freshman Stella Kaplack lined a double to left to score junior Riley Brewer, and Scarlett Backus scored on a grounder by junior Carmen Cunat that ended in an errant throw. Brewer was running for junior Caroline Deagan, who singled to start the rally.

"I am so proud of this team," said Copley senior Sydney Leach, who hit two singles. "We faced a lot of adversity this year with rain delays and games cancelled, but that didn't stop us from continuing to push and playing our game. ... I want to congratulate Tallmadge. They are a great team. We just fell a little short."

Beach and Leach each singled to start the seventh inning. With one out, junior Jayce Collins singled in Beach. Backus walked with two outs to load the bases, but Taylor was able to get a groundball to Headrick at first base to end the game.

"They never quit," Copley coach Leigh Ann Bauer said of her players. "They are ready to go. They never stop competing. They are focused and they play hard."

Copley seniors Beach, Leach, Adrianne Chmielewski and Bella Burch accepted the district runner-up trophy.

"The seniors are the glue that held this team together," Bauer said. "They had good chemistry, so they are going to be hard to replace. Next year, we are going to have nine seniors, so a good core is returning.

"... I can not state how cool, calm and collect Stella is. She does not get rattled. You can count on her for everything. Even when a big hit happens against her, she is ready to move on. She resets and is reliable, both offensively and with her pitching."

Said Kaplack: "The whole experience this season was really good. I love all of the girls on the team. Everyone is so supportive. They helped me through my freshman year and made me feel really comfortable."

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tallmadge defeats Copley to win OHSAA softball district championship