Central Catholic High School softball sets 'new standard' in run to OHSAA regional finals

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Consider the culture in the Central Catholic high school softball program changed.

That was the final message the Crusaders had for their fans in between the hugs and tears after a 4-1 loss to Vienna Mathews in a Division IV regional final at North Ridgeville High School on Friday.

"It was a great accomplishment for these girls to make it this far," Central Catholic head coach Ashley Bartolone said. "I don't think anybody thought coming into the year that we would still be playing at this point. For lack of a better word, I think Central Catholic softball was considered a joke before the season started."

Future opponents surely won't be laughing at the Crusaders going forward. Not after this magical run where Central upset five opponents on the way to nearly reaching the state tournament.

"They set a new standard for us," Bartolone said. "There was a point where we were just hoping to have a winning record and win a single tournament game. Those days are behind us because of these kids. They all bought in and they raised the bar for what the expectations will be for future Central Catholic softball teams."

Many are surprised at how far Central made it during this tournament run. Bartolone was aware very quickly that she had a special group of players who could accomplish great things this year.

"I knew right from the beginning what these kids were capable of this," Bartolone said. "I knew we had a really good group of senior players and that they were tremendous leaders. I thought our underclassmen were really skilled. I'm not surprised they were able to accomplish this."

A bad start Friday may have been the only thing that prevented the Crusaders from possibly continuing their incredible run.

Central fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning before settling in. Maddy Hufford had a two-run double while Kennedy Newsom followed with an RBI single to give Mathews the early advantage.

"Anytime you can score first in a game like this it is definitely a big help," Mathews head coach Jim Nicula said. "I was still nervous as heck for most of this game. After that first inning, we couldn't push anything across. Central Catholic has an explosive offense and you are just one big inning away from things turning on you very quickly."

Pitcher Olivia Matheny helped the Mustangs prevent the big inning. She struck out 12 and allowed just four hits.

"She's our rifleman" Nicula said. "She's an assassin. She goes out and plays with no emotion. Nothing rattles her. She just goes out and plays and she did well against a really strong lineup."

The big hit for Central was a solo home run by Avery McMahon in the sixth.

"They made us field the ball more than any team in the tournament has so far today," Nicula said. "Typically, teams don't make a lot of contact against Olivia. They made our defense work today and fortunately we were able to make the plays we needed to make."

Ava Shugart answered back in the seventh with an RBI single to seal the win for Mathews. The victory sends the Mustangs back to the state tournament for the first time since 2012.

"I've had teams play in eight regional final games and we've now won two of them," Nicula said. "We've lost six times in the regional final game. I used to joke and tell people that I'd almost rather lose in the semifinals than make it so close to the state tournament and come up short. This is a tremendous feeling, though. I know football coaches like to say that if you are still practicing at Thanksgiving, you are doing something right. For a softball team, if you are still practicing on Memorial Day you are doing something right. Fortunately, we get to have that experience."

Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mathews defeats Central Catholic softball in OHSAA regional final