Wednesday, May 9th / Not So Central Westerville ~ Every team, with the exception of one, will end their season with a loss. And sometimes you can swallow a loss a lot easier than others. Tonight was one of those others. After a scoreless top of the first, the Irish found themselves in a quick 3-0 hole. And then lightning struck… Literally. As soon as the lightning delay was over, the Warhawks continued the onslaught. That 3-0 hole turned into a 7-0 deficit. It seemed like the Irish were never really in the game and were beaten before the game was even an inning old. It was too much to overcome, and the Warhawks batted around again in the 3rd, piling on 5 more runs, and taking the Sectional Championship game by a final tally of 12-1.
The Irish offense was non-existent thru the first three innings as they were held hitless. They managed one base runner in each inning; Lauren Erickson and Gretchen Baker were both plunked, and Emily Dinan walked. That was all until Sarah Booth led off the top of the 4th with a looping single to left. She took second when the left fielder over ran the ball. She was replaced immediately by senior Kristina Lokteva as a courtesy runner, but she wouldn’t make it any further than third base.
Katie Bush led off the 5th with a hard shot to left. She moved up on a ground out and scored from second on a line drive to center by Emily Dinan. That was the extent of the Irish offense for the night.
Madison Heasley started on the mound, and was rudely greeted by 3 straight hits. And it was downhill from there and she was saddled with the loss. Booth would come on in relief and retire the last 4 Warhawk hitters on a pair of strikeouts and a pair of infield ground balls. That brings the season to a close, the Irish finishing with a 10-13 record, and an OCC Cardinal League record of 3-9. There will be a brief break from games and we will celebrate our outgoing seniors at the softball banquet. The coaching staff will get right back to work on next year’s team with the returning players as well as the incoming freshmen.
Scioto 0 0 0 0 1 x x 1 – 3 – 2
Central 7 0 5 0 x x x 12 – 10 – 1
