“Honestly, this was my favorite year of playing softball out of all four years in high school,” Ross first baseman Kelsey Warman said. “We had great chemistry. We bonded very well. This was the season to remember for sure.”
Rams coach Paul Fernandez said it will be hard to say goodbye to his five seniors: Warman, Layne Shields, Annie Hinterlong, Elisha Toney and Ashley Parrett.
“They all become your personal daughters,” Fernandez said. “This is a special group. I’m so proud of them and very proud of our seniors and what they’ve done this year.”
Ross (21-8) got buried by a top-shelf performance from Keystone (28-4), which set D-II state tournament records for most runs in a game, most runs in an inning (nine) and most RBIs by a player (six by senior catcher Destiny Weber).
It was this bad for the Rams: Eight was the previous record for runs in an inning (Tallmadge in 1989) and the Wildcats did that twice, scoring nine in the first and nine more in the third.
“I think we could’ve played better. I wish we would’ve played better, and I know the girls feel that way as well,” Fernandez said. “I don’t know if that would’ve changed the outcome because that’s a really good team we just played.
“(We have) nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve just got to keep our heads up and be happy about the things we accomplished this year. It was a great run, and to be able to get to this level, it’s not easy.”
Ross challenged Keystone pitcher Lauren Shaw in the first inning. She retired the first two batters, then Ally Ivey singled (and was replaced on base by Lauryn Emenaker), Warman reached base on an error and Haley Grau slapped a single up the middle.
Fernandez opted to send Emenaker home, but she was cut down on a throw from center fielder Paige Hartley to Weber.
“You like to get on the board early if you can and kind of break the ice,” Fernandez said. “We gotta take our chances when we can. It looked like we might have a shot there, but (we) didn’t get it.”
Keystone responded with its first 9-spot in the bottom of the inning. The Wildcats had five hits in the frame, taking advantage of three RHS errors and three walks by Kenzie Meyer.
“When you’re in a situation like that, I don’t think there’s really any other feeling than feeling helpless,” Warman said. “That team capitalized on everything that we did wrong. They capitalized on everything they did right. They just got in a groove, and unfortunately, we couldn’t get out of that.”
“It was hot and everyone was chaotic and you try to calm down, but in situations like that, you’re just such in need. You’re trying your best and it’s not working out,” Ivey said. “You’ve just got to fight throught it and end the inning as quickly as possible.”
Keystone coach Jim Piazza said the 8-2 knockout of Emenaker was the key play of the game.
“If they would’ve scored, who knows what that game would’ve been like,” Piazza said. “That energized the whole team. Great throw, great catch, great tag. And then when they came in, that’s been our theme the whole tournament run — 1-2-3 and then let us score.”
Weber was 3-for-3 and lifted a sacrifice fly for the Wildcats, and Summer Constable, Autumn Acord and Shawn drove in two runs apiece. Shaw pitched the first four innings to get the win, and Sydney Campbell completed the three-hitter.
Weber, who hits second for Keystone, has signed with Penn State.
“It feels pretty good,” she said of her RBI record. “I’m not a big home-run hitter, so I just try to do my job. Sometimes it looks clean, sometimes it doesn’t. Summer is our leadoff hitter. She does a great job always getting on, so it’s my job just to move her, and that’s what I try to do.
“What’s nice is I have so many strong bats behind me that I feel no pressure whatsoever in the box. One through 9 is so strong that none of us have any pressure to hit the ball well.”
Ivey was 2-for-2 for the Rams. Meyer lasted 2.1 innings before Warman finished in the circle.
The Wildcats advanced to Saturday’s state championship game against Hebron Lakewood, a 4-1 winner over Akron Hoban on Friday. Lakewood beat Keystone 4-0 in last year’s semifinals.
Ross also made it to state in 1993, 1994, 1999, 2005 and 2009. The Rams were state champions the last time they played at Firestone Stadium.
Ivey, a junior catcher, said her time with these RHS seniors was special.
“It’s hard to see it end like this,” Ivey said. “They’re like (my) best friends. We’re going to follow what they did because they did an amazing job.”
Ross 000-00—0-3-6
Keystone 909-0x—18-14-2
WP — Lauren Shaw (23-2); LP — Kenzie Meyer (16-6). Records: R 21-8, K 28-4
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