Second-ranked Range next for Columbiana

Morning Journal/Matt Morrison
Columbiana second baseman Kyla Hogan catches a Rootstown fly ball Tuesday.

CANFIELD– No. 3 seeded Columbiana pulled away late to beat No. 10 seeded Rootstown 7-1 on Tuesday to advance to the Division III district final.

“Obviously, we have been successful this year we are not trying to reinvent anything,” Columbiana coach Daryl Kurtz said. “Our philosophy is simple–we want to come and try to put pressure on from the first inning and we were able to do that today.”

Columbiana improves to 25-4. Rootstown finishes its season at 13-7.

Columbiana will at No. 2 seeded South Range at 5:30 p.m. Thursday for the Division III district championship.

South Range, ranked second in the Division III state coaches poll, beat Poland 9-6 in Tuesday opener to advance.

With the matchup starting 45 minutes late due to the South Range vs. Poland matchup running long, the risk of running out of daylight was in question.

“I knew it was getting close,” Kurtz said. “I’m glad were at the point we were being the seventh inning. Obviously, I’m happy the way it turned out I would have not wanted to come back here and have to finish this game tomorrow.”

“It was getting pretty dark and they don’t have lights,” Columbiana junior Caitlynn Pleska said. “It was a little bit nerve-racking, but I realized that were kind of far into the game and we just kind of had to play with it because there is nothing you can really do about it.

Pleska gave the Columbiana more comfort space when she smacked a two-run home run to center field that gave the Clippers a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning.

“My first two at bats I didn’t completely come out and do what I wanted,” Pleska said. “I just wanted to come in and help my team the best that I could. I went in confident and I forgot about those last two at bats it was a new game for me and I just went up and swung and it produced.”

Ava Davanzo had two hits and tow RBIs, while Maryn Hepler had one hit and two runs scored. Mackenzi Gamble had one hit and one RBI and Cameron Perkins had one hit and one run scored.

Gamble tossed a gem in the circle allowing only one earned run on three hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

Gamble surpassed her 400th career strikeout when she struck out Rootstown’s Reise Thomas in the fifth inning for her eighth strikeout of the game.

“I am extremely grateful,” Gamble said. “I honestly did not think that I was going to make it this far.”

Rootstown made it interesting in the seventh inning when it had bases loaded, but felt a little rushed due to the lightness of the day fading.

“It was concerning,” Rootstown coach Paige Byers said. “It was a bummer that we felt a little rushed and a little concerned by it.

If the game was called, Rootstown was going to be ready to come back and play the rest of the game even though it was down 7-1.

We would have came swinging and fighting,” Byers said. “Every out matters.”

Boston Silveus had one hit and scored the only run for the Rovers.

Shelbie Krieger, who is a Miami(Ohio) softball commit was the losing pitcher of the day as she allowed five earned runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Byers thinks that it will be good matchup when Columbiana takes on South Range in the district final.

“I think it will be a good game,” Byers said. “(South Range and Columbiana) both have good pitchers and big hitters. It will be a tough one either way.”

South Range and Columbiana are looking forward to meeting up with each other in the district final.

“I’m so excited,” Pleska said. “We have in been route to play them both years that I have been in high school, but we never made it. I used to go to South Range myself in elementary school, so I know basically their whole team. It is going to be really fun.”

“(Columbiana) has great pitching and they can hit,” South Range coach Jeff DeRose said. “I have seen them play before. It will be fun.”

R: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1–1-3-2

C: 1-0-0-3-2-1-x–7-6-0