Norwayne softball outlasts Mapleton for district semifinal win
CRESTON — There was plenty of firepower wielded during the Division III district semifinal softball game between Mapleton and Norwayne on Tuesday at Norwayne High School.
But it would be the Bobcats who proved to have more heavy hitters as Norwayne knocked out a 13-8 victory over Mapleton.
Norwayne now will play Triway at 5 p.m. Thursday for a district championship in Creston.
Mapleton took a 3-0 first-inning lead after Heidi Earl and Emilee Dennison both doubled in runs and Cailin Vermilya added an RBI-single.
More: Ashland County Softball Power Rankings: Hillsdale, Mapleton, Loudonville close out 1-2-3
But Norwayne came back with four runs in the top of the second with the big blow being a three-run homer by Anna Metsker, the first of what would be a pair of dingers for her as she belted a two-run shot in the fourth inning to stake Norwayne to a 11-3 lead.
“That’s one thing with our team, we always say we’re never out of it,” Norwayne coach Bree Gill said. “I’ve been here for a few years and this is the best offense I think we’ve had in one through nine. We rely on our sticks and they did their job today.”
Norwayne’s Riley Gwinn also socked a pair of homers and drove in four runs with Anny Workman adding a solo homer in the fourth inning.
Workman got the win in the circle, going seven innings, yielding eight earned runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts and four walks.
“Abby does a good job, we struggled a little bit earlier in the season playing behind her and with walks and things,” Gill said. “She’s not overpowering; she’s not going to strike out 15 people a night so we have to play defense behind her. And she’s got a bum ankle — powered through that and threw strikes — and that’s what we need her to do.”
Workman said her team got the job done.
”It wasn’t all me, it was the team,” Workman said. “I have a curveball that goes inside and a curveball that goes outside, so I can hit my spots with those. Our team did very well today hitting-wise, and we made the defensive plays we needed to.”
Mapleton also had a number of players who swung strong bats as Vermilya doubled, singled twice and drove in a pair of runs, with Dennison, Kendall Ramey and Audrey Hellickson (RBI) each earning a pair of hits. Mapleton had 12 hits.
Dennison suffered the loss in the circle for Mapleton, giving up eight runs (six earned) on six hits with a pair of walks in three innings. Hellickson tossed four frames, yielding five runs (two earned) with three walks.
Norwayne had three errors and Mapleton had four, although Rhyannon Schrader shined at the hot corner for the Mounties, making a number of defensive gems.
“They’re a good hitting team and we knew coming in they were going to hit the ball, and today they hit the ball a little harder. You can’t make plays on balls hit over the fence,” Mapleton coach Dan Sanders said. “And when you get to this level in the tournament, you don’t have to be perfect but you have to be really close, and today, we were missing a couple of aspects of the game our offense just couldn’t overcome.
”And they never quit, that’s the one thing I love about this team, we’ve had multiple last at-bat wins this season and I didn’t have much doubt we could do it today but five runs is a lot to overcome. These girls don’t give up. They’ve put too much time in and work hard.”
Mapleton’s season is not over as the Mounties will host Crestview at 5 p.m. Thursday in a game that will decide the Firelands Conference title.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Norwayne outlasts Mapleton in softball district semifinal win
