On a roll: Galion beats Crestview for Division III sectional softball championship

OLIVESBURG — The Galion Tigers like to look back at games, talk about and learn a little bit from each outing.

But there is one game on their schedule they have never and will never talk about. It was back on April 20 when the Tigers lost to Crestview in the first game of a regular-season doubleheader 11-1 by committing 11 errors and not allowing a single earned run.

MR. 250: 'The credit, 100%, goes to the kids': Madison's Niswander reaches 250-win milestone

Fast forward to Friday night in a rematch for the Division III sectional championship and the Tigers showed just how much they have grown this season as the No. 6 seed upset No. 2 Crestview 10-5.

"At the beginning of the season, we made a lot of errors on defense and didn't play how we thought we could have played," Galion coach Callie Bauer said. "That first game against Crestview is a game we have never talked about as a team because it wasn't us. Today, it was us. We prepared very hard for their pitcher and defensively, we have been solid as we have been all year."

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after Kaitlyn McKee started the game off with a double before a Kortnie Ganshorn bunt was misplayed, allowing McKee to score from second. Madelyn Schieber added an RBI groundout to help Galion strike first.

That first inning when the Cougars committed a costly error was the start of the snowball.

"They had the kind of start that we were hoping for," Crestview coach Scott Durbin said. "I kind of wish we got the choice whether we wanted to bat first or not because I really feel confident that we would have been better off getting first swings and trying to jump on it. But that first inning, we made our mistakes and they seemed to compound."

The Tigers added four more in the third to take a 6-0 lead as CeCe Campbell ripped an RBI double before a walk loaded the bases. Destiny Blue recorded an infield single., Adalyn Perry drew a bases-loaded walk and Elliott Freyman added an RBI groundout to cap off a big inning.

By the end, the Tigers forced the Cougars to switch pitchers.

"When we first saw Chesnie Patton, we tipped our cap to her," Bauer said. "She has crazy spin, hits spots well and throws the ball hard. We worked a lot after that game on our approaches at the plate and it just clicked today. Our league prepares us to see pitching like this in the tournament. It was nice to make those adjustments early and take that part out of the game."

Crestview scored a pair in the fourth inning as Kalee Hamman and Maddie Grant recorded back-to-back RBI ground outs to get the Cougars on the board, but the Tigers answered right back in the fifth when Cameron Eckert's groundball got through on an error and scored a run before Campbell crushed a two-run, no-doubt home run to make it 9-2 and that was all the insurance the Tigers needed.

"My first at-bat, I struggled and popped out to the pitcher," Campbell said. "She got me. I told myself that she wasn't going to get me again and I jumped on my pitch each time. I was ready to go from the first pitch and I had two doubles off of first-pitch swings."

Campbell finished with three hits — two doubles and a homer — and three RBIs with two runs scored. The home run left no doubt the Tigers were going to come away with a sectional championship.

"That was one of her best swings of the year," Bauer said. "That kid works as hard as anyone I know. She was out at 10 p.m. hitting with her dad and this afternoon, our bus left at 2:30 p.m. and she was hitting when I showed up. She is a great leader and she led this team today."

Crestview answered with three runs in the sixth before Galion scored one more in the top of the seventh to cap off the scoring. Perry, Eckert and Ava Ball had two hits apiece while McKee, Blue and Freyman had one apiece. Eckert drove in a pair of runs while Madelyn Schieber, Blue, Perry and Freyman had one RBI apiece.

Madison Beck took the win in the circle allowing five runs, just three earned, on eight hits with six strikeouts.

PJ Endicott and Carlee Crider had two hits apiece while Patton, Kalee Hamman, Makensie Tucker and Makena Tackett had one hit apiece for the Cougars. Maddie Grant had two RBIs while Crider and Hamman had one apiece.

The Cougars have just one senior in Sophie Durbin, so they will be back next year looking for some tournament success. But, Scott Durbin refuses to let youth be a storyline.

"On the other hand, we have a senior leader and a group of juniors who have been playing since they were freshmen," Scott Durbin said. "We had the same conversation after last year's tournament loss to Clear Fork. That is what hurts. The kids did everything we asked and we don't get it done. It hurts."

But losing Sophie Durbin, his daughter and a four-year letterman and three-year starter at shortstop, will be tough.

"She has given a lot," Durbin said. "I think she raised the standard which is a great thing. She raised the bar on what it takes to be a player in this program. I think her teammates noticed that and followed that. It is going to be different, but hopefully we will see the example she set over the next few years."

Crestview (17-7) will be back in action on Saturday at Mapleton with a chance to claim a piece of the Firelands Conference championship.

Galion (11-12) now heads on to play Edison at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Shelby in the Division III district semifinals. Not too shabby after not winning their first game until April 6.

"Honestly, those first six games and going 0-6 against Clear Fork and Shelby and it just wasn't us," Bauer said. "I keep saying if we could play them now, it would be a completely different season. We are playing well now and the girls have bought into a new coach and they are loving this second season."

Which is exactly why Campbell never let her team think about the first time it played Crestview in April.

"That game didn't happen," Campbell said with a laugh. "It makes me want to cry just thinking about that game because that wasn't my team. Tonight, right from the get-go, that was my team. We were all together and never got down."

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

X: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Galion beats Crestview for Division III sectional softball title