Summer McCaw lives her dream, Delaney Shannon keeps hitting, Hoover softball wins district

MASSILLON — It hasn't been easy being Hoover softball in 2023. The Vikings lost a Division I collegiate pitcher, an All-Ohio bat and two other key hitters to graduation. To make matters even more difficult, Hoover (12-9) lost five consecutive games by a single run early in the season to drop to 2-5 at one point.

None of it mattered Wednesday, as Hoover found a way to overcome all of it to earn its third consecutive district title with a 1-0 victory over Jackson at Washington High School. The Vikings have won 12 total district titles since 2006 under legendary head coach Jerry Goodpasture.

"It never gets old," Goodpasture said with a laugh after the presentation of the district championship trophy. "I can tell you that. I can't say enough about our kids. They were just outstanding today."

Perhaps none more than sophomore starting pitcher Summer McCaw. McCaw struck out 12 and pitched a four-hit shutout to lead the way for Hoover. McCaw pitched 13.2 consecutive scoreless innings in the district tournament after entering with one out in the third inning of Monday's district semifinal.

"Summer has been pitching extremely well," Goodpasture said. "She did an outstanding job of hitting her spots today."

None of the hits against McCaw went for extra bases. McCaw pitched with the poise and composure of a much more seasoned high school pitcher considering the size of the stage she was on.

"I was a little nervous on the way to the game but I was able to calm down and settle in quickly once is started," McCaw said. "I knew my teammates were with me. All of this is just really exciting for me. This was one of my dreams as a kid growing up. We just want to keep this going as long as we can."

McCaw got offensive support from a familiar face. Delaney Shannon led off the top of the fourth with a triple and scored on the next play in the following at-bat on a fielding error.

"I was just trying to find any way I could to get a hit," Shannon said. "I was just trying to get on base any way I could by making contact. I just wanted to help the team out."

Ohio high school softball: Jackson, Hoover each rally to OHSAA softball district semifinal wins in Massillon

It was the game's only extra base hit. The rest of Hoover's four hits were singles. Shannon was 3-for-4 overall. She went 7-for-8 during two district games.

"She hit really well against great pitchers in the district tournament," Goodpasture said. "You have to give her a lot of credit. She came ready to play."

The win spoiled another strong effort by Jackson senior pitcher Julia Gossett. Gossett struck out 12 in a complete game. She allowed just one earned run and struck out 27 over 16 innings in two district games.

"Julia pitched a great game," Jackson head coach Adam Parker said. "She is just an outstanding kid. All of our kids are. We gave 110% effort today. I can't say enough about that. They fought until the end. It just didn't go our way."

The Polar Bears looked as though they might deliver some late-game magic in the bottom of the seventh. Chloe Christensen singled with two outs and Hoover opted to walk Gossett. Jackson's Alexis Sin grounded to the second base bag and nearly beat the throw to first to load the bases before being called out to end the game.

"We put runners on in that situation," Parker said. "Alexis gave a great effort on the ground ball and made it a bang-bang play at first base. We were able to get some runners on at times and we were able to move them but we just couldn't get one across the plate."

It goes down as a memorable season for Jackson softball.

"We had five seniors that were just fantastic," Parker said. "We're going to really miss them all. Overall we meshed well and all the kids were fantastic. They were all high character kids as well as great softball players. I can't say enough about them."

The Vikings advance to play Walsh Jesuit on Wednesday at Youngstown State in a regional semifinal rematch of a game they won a year ago on their way to the state tournament. Hoover hopes a season of trials will lead to more gold at the regional tournament.

"If you take a look at a lot of the teams we lost to during that stretch of one-run losses, a lot of them are still playing," Goodpasture said. "We lost a lot of one-run games and now we've started to win one-run games. I think all of those experiences against those opponents are really helping us now."

Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @chickmanREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton Hoover softball beats Jackson, wins OHSAA district final