Cool as a Colt: Chrastina's poise leads Clear Fork to sectional semifinal win over Crestview
BELLVILLE — Whenever there is a high-pressure situation for Clear Fork senior Pacey Chrastina, she is as cool as a tamed Colt.
The right-handed pitcher never flinches and never lets her nerves get to her because she knows that she doesn't have to do it all. She doesn't have to take the game into her own hands because she puts all of her trust in her teammates behind her to help get a job done.
And it worked to perfection on Tuesday night during Clear Fork's 8-3 Division III sectional semifinal win over Clear Fork as Chrastina tossed a complete game allowing three runs, just two earned with four strikeouts while scattering 12 hits on the night. She forced Crestview to strand 10 runners on base while throwing a workhorse-like 129 pitches.
"For me, it is typical to have runners on and being put under that pressure so I just work with trust in my defense," Chrastina said. "They step up for me every time and allow me to pitch with a lot of confidence because I have some great teammates to back me up."
Whenever runners advanced to scoring positions, Chrastina would force a weak pop-up or a slow rolling ground ball to get out of an inning. On the other side were her teammates making big plays in key moments.
"My defense always has my back and gets me out of a lot of jams," Chrastina said. "Whenever I have runners on, I know they are going to make the right plays at the right times to prevent runners from getting in scoring position. I have to also give credit to my coach, Haylie Miller, calling pitches. She is so good at calling pitches and when my coaches and teammates have confidence in me, it helps so much."
Crestview got on the board early when PJ Endicott ripped a solo home run in the top of the first, but the Colts answered right back with four runs in the home half of the inning highlighted by a two-RBI single by Ava Carr and a two-out RBI double from Andrea Swainhart. Macy Ousley added an RBI fielder's choice in the second and Ava Carr scored on a passed ball in the third to make it 6-1 Clear Fork after 3. Katrina Rogers had an RBI single in the fourth.
The difference in the game was Clear Fork got timely hits with runners in scoring position and Crestview just couldn't bring runners home despite having chances nearly every inning. Without a senior on the roster and just two juniors, it could have been just a case of nerves for the young squad as for many of them, it was their first taste of postseason softball.
"It could be, but honestly, I think we just got really eager in big situations," Durbin said. "We jumped at first pitches a few times and were out on our front foot and I just told the girls that I wanted better for them, but Clear Fork got some big hits and that was the one thing we couldn't do. That one big hit with runners on just never came."
Mel Blubaugh and Bri Patterson led Clear Fork with two hits while Rogers, Renee Anders, Carr, Chrastina and Swainhart had one apiece. Carr had two RBIs while Blubaugh, Ousley, Rigers and Swainhart had one apiece.
It was the third consecutive top-notch pitching performance for Chrastina who recorded a shutout against Lexington and held a very good Hillsdale team to just five runs before limiting Crestview to three.
"The last few games, she has been less aggressive when she gets ahead in the count," Clapper said. "She has also started hitting her spots. Earlier in the season, get gets up 0-2, 1-2 and tries to get that quick strikeout instead of making the hitters swing at her pitch. She is being more patient with two strikes and she has more confidence because her defense is making plays behind her."
Crestview (13-7) saw four hits from Kalee Hamman while Makena Tackett and Maddeline Grant had two hits apiece and Sophie Durbin, Chesnie Patton, Endicott and MaKenzie Tucker had one hit apiece. Endicott and Grant had one RBI apiece.
The Cougars still have plenty to play for as they host Plymouth and Monroeville in regular season matchups this week. If Monroeville can drop one of its two league games before meeting up with Crestview, the Cougars can play for a share of a league championship if they can win their last two. Durbin doesn't see a problem keeping his team engaged despite an early exit from the tournament.
"We will keep the pressure on Monroeville and see what happens," Durbin said. "I don't think we will have a problem staying engaged, especially with what is at stake. Plymouth is coming in tomorrow and we all know that is a big one no matter what and then we have Monroeville on Friday with hopefully a chance to compete for a league title. The tough part will be coming back tomorrow and maybe that will be a good thing, too. We will see."
Regardless of what happens, Durbin and the Cougars are very excited about the future of the program as everyone returns next season for a run at a league title and hopefully a deeper playoff stretch.
"We are really excited about it," Durbin said. "We have two juniors and the rest are freshmen and sophomores that are loaded with talent, but the best thing is, everyone in that dugout has bought into what we are doing. They are working hard and coming together and I know for a fact they are going to push each other to get better this summer and into the offseason. There is nothing but excitement moving forward."
Clear Fork (15-8) will move on to play at No. 1 seed Colonel Crawford in the sectional championship on Friday, team the Colts beat 9-4 at the Ashland MVD Tournament back on April 7.
"We scrimmaged them and lost by two and then beat them at the MVD in Ashland 9-4," Clapper said. "We will approach cautiously optimistic. We cannot go in overconfident so we have to go in focused and see what we can do."
The Colts made a run to the Division II district championship game last year before falling to Lexington in extra innings. Chrastina believes this year's team has a deep run in them as well.
"I think it makes us believe in ourselves that we can get that far again," Chrastina said. "I am excited to see what we can do."
Clapper agrees.
"Last year feels a lot like this year," Clapper said. "We started slow and gained confidence as the season progressed and started peaking at the right time as the tournament started. The ones that were here last year know that and know if we play together, we can pull off some upsets."
Other tournament scores
Lexington 21, Mansfield Senior 1 F/5
The Lexington Lady Lex advanced to the Division II sectional championship with a 21-1 victory over Mansfield Senior on Tuesday night.
Kaylie Eichorn led the way with three hits while Kylie Galownia, Kaylan Lamb and Kyra Boyd had two hits apiece and Jillian Morr, Grace Miller, Kylie Thornton, Summer Branham, Addison Cyrus and Mckenna Rose had one hit apiece. Lamb and Boyd collected four RBIs apiece while Galownia had three,Morr, Miller and Thornton had two apiece and Eichorn, Rose and Branham had one apiece.
Galownia earned the win in the circle allowing one unearned run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Hannah Nolan and Leahana Schaub had one hit apiece for the Tygers.
Lexington improves to 10-12 and will move on to play at No. 1 seed Bellevue on Friday for a sectional championship.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork Colts beat Crestview Cougars in Division II sectional semifinals
