Marlington softball to play for OHSAA district championship after holding off West Branch

JEFFERSON — The Marlington softball team erupted offensively from an early pitchers’ duel with a big five-run fifth inning and held off a determined West Branch rally in the seventh to win 5-3 in a Division II district semifinal Tuesday at Lehotsky Field.

“I thought we had great contributions up and down the lineup,” praised Marlington head coach Joe Tagliarini. “Like I told the girls, hey, it doesn’t matter who is in there, when your number is called, you’ve got to go out there and perform, and I feel we did that as a group today.”

The win vaults the state’s second-ranked Dukes (24-1) into Thursday’s district final against Aurora in Jefferson at 4 p.m. It’s the third straight year Marlington has reached the district final. Third-seeded Aurora advanced Tuesday with a 4-0 triumph over ninth-seeded Youngstown Ursuline.

West Branch bowed out with an 11-11 record and won four of its last five games with a roster featuring just one senior.

“I thought overall we played well,” stated West Branch head coach Jennifer “Sis” Woods, the only softball coach in West Branch history who recently had the school’s softball field named in her honor. “We told them before we started that as long as you can walk off knowing you gave it your all, that’s all anybody can ask, and I really do think we did that.”

The No. 1-seeded Dukes advanced against West Branch by combining the strong pitching of senior Sofia Nase, who raised her record to 18-0 on the year, with a big fifth-inning at the plate. They batted around in the fifth and scored all five of their runs.

Nase, who has pitched 13 shutouts this season, including two no-hitters, was the winning pitcher, striking out 13 and walking five in a complete game.

“Today my screwball wasn’t on, but my rise ball was on,” commented Nase. “I feel like I’ve worked my velocity a lot in the offseason and it’s helped me a lot.”

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“Sofia has been so good this year, she hasn’t given up more than three runs in any game all year,” said Tagliarini. “So I thought when we got it (the lead) to five it would give us a  cushion and clearly that was needed.”

Before the Dukes’ offensive outburst, Nase and West Branch sophomore right-hander Klary McKay locked up in a pitchers’ battle which kept things at a 0-0 stalemate through four innings.

But all that changed for Marlington in the bottom of the fifth. The Dukes had seven hits in the game and five of them occurred in the fifth. The big blow offensively for Marlington occurred when junior Audrey Miller stepped to the plate and sent a pitch by McKay over the left field fence for a three-run home run.

“The first two I hit out there, but the wind kind of killed them and the center fielder made a great catch on the second one, but I just kept doing what I was doing,” said Miller of her three-run blast in her third time at the dish. “It (the home run) felt pretty good off the bat. It was an inside pitch and she (McKay) was attacking me inside all game, so I was kind of expecting it."

“I thought she (Miller) had great at-bats,” observed Tagliarini. “The wind kind of kept two in or I think she would have had three home runs otherwise. She’s a big-time hitter and that’s what she does. Every game she drives the ball.”

The three-run homer occurred after the Dukes’ Grace Nase opened with a double down the left field line and Delaney Martz reached base on a West Branch throwing error.

Before the inning was over, Marlington tacked on two more runs after Maria Walder singled to center and Ashlyn Maurer had an RBI double to left, making it 4-0. The Dukes finished off their big inning when Faith Savage singled to center, scoring Maurer, upping the advantage to 5-0.

“I think everyone contributed, we batted around in that inning,” praised the Dukes’ head coach.

Nase said having a five-run cushion helped her relax in the circle.

“I was sitting there and I was like we’re OK right now, but having more runs helps me relax,” commented the Dukes’ pitching standout.

The score remained 5-0 until West Branch’s last at-bat in the top of the seventh when the Warriors answered with their own rally.

With one out, West Branch had three straight batters reach base on walks, including Nicole Stoffer, McKay and Mikalyn Fitts. Senior Baylee Waugaman then hit an RBI single to center, making it 5-1. The Warriors followed with RBI singles by Libbie Davis and Mati Hawk, cutting the deficit to 5-3. With the bases still loaded, Nase settled in and recorded a strikeout and got the Warriors’ last batter to line out to second base, securing the win for the Dukes.

“That’s what we talked about in my meeting (at the circle in the seventh inning)," Tagliarini said. "My message to the infield was, hey, nothing worthwhile in life is easy, so let’s just go out there and get what we have to get and move on.”

Marlington’s top offensive players in the game in addition to Miller were Maria Walder (double, single), Grace Nase (double), Ashlyn Maurer (RBI double), Faith Savage (RBI single) and Chyanne Knapp (double).

Nase said the Dukes’ long-range goal lies ahead.

“Our goal was to win the EBC, which we did, and now, hopefully, get past what we did my sophomore year in the regionals,” said the Dukes’ pitcher.

“We want to go as far as we can (in the tournament),” added Miller. “Now we’ll just get ready to go for the next one.”

West Branch had four hits Tuesday — Josie Milliken (single), Baylee Waugaman (RBI single), Libbie Davis (RBI single) and Mati Hawk (RBI single).

Woods, who led West Branch to a Division II state runner-up finish in 2018, feels the future is bright for her young team.

“This is something to build on, we won the sectional and played very well against the No. 1 seed (Marlington) which is 24-1 and we’re a .500 team so that shows the growth that they have made,” she said.

McKay went all seven innings in the circle for West Branch while striking out one and walking three.

Tagliarini quickly turned his attention to Thursday’s district final against Aurora.

“We played against them (Aurora) three times this winter and I didn’t pitch Sofia against them in any of those games, knowing that we could meet up,” said Tagliarini. “I’m pretty familiar with them.”

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Marlington High School softball wins OHSAA district semifinal