Fine season ends
for Devils
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BUCYRUS - The young
The Blue Devils (24-5) managed just two hits while striking out 14 times
against All-
"We just ran into a
buzz saw," Blue Devil coach Rob Gwozdz said.
"We just couldn't get anything going."
Springfield senior pitcher
Gretchen Hubbard (13-3) matched Malinkey's dominance
through five innings before Keystone (24-6) broke through for the winning runs
in the sixth. Hubbard allowed just one earned run, four hits and struck out
four.
"[Malinkey]
had a rise that no one could lay off of," Hubbard said. "They're a
very good team. They deserve to go on."
Springfield came into the
game batting .329 as a team. But the Blue Devils' only offense was Hubbard's
single in the first and Christine Zappone's double in
the sixth.
Zappone, a freshman, drilled a liner to
left-center field with one out. But Springfield's top two hitters, Hubbard and Kelcee Gwozdz, could not bring
her home.
"You just don't see
Gretchen and Kelcee go down, bang-bang like
that," coach Gwozdz said. "It's happened
maybe two times all year."
Keystone responded with
three hits and two runs in its half of the sixth. The rally started on a tough
error on third baseman Randi Hamilton, who was
playing in on a bunt and couldn't handle a grounder shot at her. Jessica Burt
followed with a triple to plate the winning run.
Hamilton responded with a
brilliant defensive play when she fielded a bunt, faked a throw to first and
threw Burt out going back to third. The play was disputed by Keystone coach Jim
Piazza, resulting in a 10-minute conversation among the umpires.
"That was a trick play
we had designed and it worked to a tee," said Gwozdz,
who pointed out that Hubbard was not allowed to throw during the dispute.
"She sold it great. The shortstop covered and everything was
awesome."
Hubbard then gave up
back-to-back singles to load the bases and walked home another run.
Keystone, which has played in
the D-II state title game three straight years, will play in the regional final
on Saturday.
Malinkey, a two-time, first-team all-state
pitcher, improved to 17-3 this season.
Gwozdz said he brought in two college
pitchers who throw rise balls to prepare his team. The Blue Devils practiced
against Laura Soldner and Jen Woods, both former NLL
pitchers.
"We brought those kids
in to see some rise balls and stuff. We looked pretty good on Monday and
Tuesday. We just couldn't get anything going today," Gwozdz
said.
Piazza said Springfield has
"an exceptional team."
"They are young and
they're going to be here a lot," he said. "This team is going to be
very, very dangerous in the next couple of years."
The last time Springfield
reached the regional tournament was 1983. The Blue Devils also won their first
league title in 18 years.
"This season has been a
dream," Gwozdz said "Our No. 1 goal when we
broke camp was to win the league championship. Anything beyond that is icing on
the cake."
Contact Mark Monroe at:
mmonroe@theblade.com
or 419-724-6110.