Crushin' Colts: Clear Fork's bats on display in sectional final win over Colonel Crawford
NORTH ROBINSON - It was the type of matchup on paper you'd expect to see in a district championship.
But because the Division III Shelby district is absolutely loaded with talent, No. 3 Colonel Crawford and No. 5 Clear Fork met in a sectional championship Friday evening and with only one advancing to districts after both finished as runner-up last season.
Powered by great hitting and even better defense the Colts' quest to return to the district title game is still alive after a 12-5 win over the Eagles.
"Probably one of the biggest things for us the last month or so," Clear Fork coach Chris Clapper said of his team's hitting. "We started the season slow and once a couple of us got hot, the rest did. We know we have to hit the ball well and make plays defensively."
Anytime a team does both of those well, they're tough to beat. And the Colts started off with a bang as Melodie Blubaugh belted a triple into left field then scored the next at-bat on a passed ball.
But the Eagles were able to respond immediately as Allison Weithman and Aubrey Zizzo both reached base, then Nettie Gallant loaded the bases on a bunt that was bobbled by the catcher. Rylie Hoepf hit a ball into right field to score Weithman, then Madison Gray grounded out to first allowing Zizzo to score for a 2-1 lead.
A scoreless second was followed by a momentum-shifting third. Blubaugh opened the inning with a double and Macy Ousley followed it up reaching first on a bunt. But the bunt appeared to not only hit Ousley in the box, but land in foul territory before spinning back across the line.
"I would never blame umpires for losses because it's not their fault we got beat 12-5," Colonel Crawford coach Sarah Fraser said. "However, I do think some calls — one way or the other for either team — do change the courses of games and momentum changes. I believe that's what happened tonight. And that's OK, umpires are human."
Briefly dejected, Zizzo pitched to Katrina Rogers who wasted no time sending a triple into right field to score Bluebaugh and Ousley. Then Renee Anders hit a ball to shallow centerfield scoring Rogers before being brought in herself by Ava Carr's single to right field — all with no outs. Zizzo was able to strikeout Pacey Chrastina before Andrea Swainhart capped off the half inning with a groundout to second which brought Carr home for a 6-2 lead.
A relatively quiet fourth and fifth were followed by a four-run sixth with Blubaugh driving in Briana Patterson, Blubaugh scoring on Rogers' single, then Ousley and Rogers scoring from third on separate wild pitches to make it 10-2.
"Sometimes we dig holes for ourselves that we just can't get out of," Fraser said. "Again, Aubrey pitched well enough to win. All year she has gone to battle for this team and we just get too deep sometimes and our mentality isn't good when we get behind.
"We struggle to keep a positive outlook and we struggle to get past mistakes, it's tough for us as a team to put a complete game together and we've seen it all year."
Colonel Crawford started to rally in the sixth with Karlee Shull scoring on a Zizzo single and Harley Thomas coming home on a Hannah Allen single to pull within six. But the Colts tacked on two more insurance runs in the seventh when Zizzo walked Blubaugh with the bases loaded allowing Chrastina to score, then Morgan Shafer scored on a hard hit ball from Rogers at Zizzo.
The Eagles had a promising spark in the bottom of the seventh with Madison Cobb scoring on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, then Weithman was walked to load them again. But Rogers came in to spell Chrastina in the circle and forced Zizzo into a lineout to second for a double play to end the game.
"We had runners on base almost every inning, we just couldn't connect and put it together," Fraser said. "That's a different ball game if we capitalize and make some plays in those innings [third and sixth]. The first time we played them we made six errors and that's what happened in this game. We out-hit them last time, but made triple the errors."
Clear Fork had 11 hits and four walks along with capitalizing on seven wild pitches, but it was the Colts' defense that truly won them the game. Colonel Crawford is a team that can hit 1-through-9 and were it not for some outstanding plays in the infield and outfield, this might've had a different outcome.
"Other than the two or three bunts we didn't cover well, we played really great defensively," Clapper said. "Ava Carr made some outstanding plays in centerfield."
Carr might've been MVP for the Colts making play-after-play in centerfield.
"She's a freshman and day one she was starting on this team," Clapper said. "Going into the last week or so of the season she really struggled at practice and I changed it, she wasn't starting. She fought to get it back, proved herself and she's playing great defense.
"I want them to prove me wrong, I'm glad that happened."
Blubaugh led the way offensively going 4-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs and a walk, Rogers had three hits, four RBIs and two runs. Chrastina struck out four, walked six and allowed seven hits in 6⅓ innings.
"All season long she has set the tone," Clapper said of Blubaugh. "Her ability at the plate to swing a bat, bunt and get down the line quick. If she gets on base, it's a good thing for us."
Thomas was the lone multi-hitter for Crawford with Shull, Weithman, Zizzo, Allen and Gray each recording a hit. Zizzo, Allen and Gray had an RBI each; Zizzo struck out six, walked four and allowed 11 hits.
"This is part of the big life lesson we teach as coaches," Fraser said. "You can't quit when things don't go your way, you need to be mentally tough enough to get through it. I feel bad for our seniors, Harley and Nettie are extra special to me because I've known them since they were really young. It sucks we couldn't win a championship again together. But these are life lessons you teach the girls to learn from … hopefully something sticks."
The Eagles still have a make-up game against Upper Sandusky on Monday where they can play the role of spoiler and try to prevent the Rams from winning the league title outright. It'll also be Senior Night honoring Thomas and Gallant.
"We do have a lot coming back, but Harley and Nettie are huge shoes to fill — ungodly big shoes to fill," Fraser said. "But I have confidence in our team to come back and figure it out next year."
And the Colts move on to face No. 2 Margaretta on Wednesday at Shelby High School at 6 p.m. in a district semifinal.
"I think there was some pressure," Clapper said of the expectations coming into the season. "We lost quite a bit … we didn't have the pitching we did last year, but we knew if we played our best we could make a run in the tournament just like last year."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Clear Fork softball beats Colonel Crawford in D-III sectional final
