Justine Doringo pitches Marlington softball past Gilmour Academy in OHSAA district semis
HUBBARD — It would have been fair to expect Tuesday's Division II, Northeast 2 district semifinal between Marlington and Gilmour Academy to be a high school softball slugfest. After all, the No. 8-seeded Lancers averaged 12.5 runs per game while the No. 3 Dukes averaged 9.7 entering the game.
Marlington pitcher Justin Doringo had other ideas. Doringo limited Gilmour Academy to four hits and a season-low one run as the Dukes shocked the Lancers 11-1 in six innings to advance to the district finals.
"She was as cool as a cucumber for us today," Marlington head coach Joe Tagliarini said. "When I first took over two years ago, she was one of the first players I actually met. She was only an eighth-grader then, but I was stunned at some of the questions she was asking for her age. We've really seen her develop since then. She can definitely throw the ball and she is learning to pitch and putting in a lot of video work."
Doringo struck out four, walked two and did not allow any extra-base hits against the talented Gilmour lineup.
"I just wanted to come in and keep the ball off the plate and make the hitters work as much as possible," Doringo said. "It worked out well. The defense behind me and our hitting was amazing. We really came out to play today."
Freshman Chelsea Miller continued her breakout season at the plate for Marlington. Miller was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Miller had a triple and ended the game in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run home run to reach the run rule.
"She's a special, special player," Tagliarini said. "She has 12 doubles, 12 triples, 13 home runs, 50 RBIs and 50 runs scored now. She works incredibly hard at her craft. I've been around softball at the high school or college level as a coach for 25 years now and I don't know that I've seen anybody as good as her."
Marlington advances to play No. 2 Canfield at 5 p.m. Thursday at Hubbard High School in the district finals. The Cardinals were ranked No. 1 in Division II in all five Ohio High School Coaches Association state polls during the regular season.
"We just have to treat this like another game," Miller said. "We know that we are going to need to have a good performance but we believe that we have a good chance to win. This was a good performance for us to have going into that game."
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington softball defeats Gilmour Academy in OHSAA district semis
