Division II: Keystone 5, Ashtabula Edgewood 0
Bob Daniels
The Chronicle-Telegram
ASHLAND — It took Kristie Malinkey a few innings to figure out the strike zone. It took Jessica Burt no time at all to figure out how to hit triples Thursday afternoon.
And when Malinkey understood how the umpire was calling balls and strikes, she turned in a 14-strikeout five-hitter in Keystone’s 5-0 Division II state semifinal victory over Ashtabula Edgewood. It was her 25th win of the season without a loss.
The victory puts Keystone (31-2) in the state championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday against Circleville. The Tigers (23-8) scored with a walk-off single in the seventh inning to defeat Urbana in the other Division II semifinal.
Keystone’s victory came just ahead of Elyria’s 6-0 Division I semifinal win over Hamilton. This marks the first time two Lorain County schools have advanced to state softball finals in the same season. Each has won a state championship, Keystone in 1999 and Elyria in 2002.
Burt, the Wildcats’ first-team All-Ohio center fielder, unloaded a blast to the fence in center leading off the second inning and first baseman Erica Reid drove her home with a one-out double. Burt also drilled a two-RBI triple to right field in the sixth inning that looked at first as though it would leave the yard.
“The first time I hit a pitch right down the middle,” Burt said. “It was a little higher next time. I was just looking for something to hit, because (Edgewood pitcher Megan Dragon) was throwing a lot of riseballs.”
“Best pure hitter I’ve ever seen,” coach Jim Piazza said of Burt. “She really puts a charge in the ball.”
Malinkey had an uncharacteristically slow start, walking two batters in the first three innings after walking only 13 in the Wildcats’ 32 previous games. In fact, she threw 68 pitches — 27 of them balls — before she finally retired the Edgewood side in order in the fifth inning. She threw just 10 balls in the Wildcats’ sectional final victory over Buckeye.
The slow start was partly because Malinkey wasn’t getting strike calls on pitches up in the zone, effectively depriving her of her riseball. But Malinkey, also a first-team all-Ohio selection, adapted. Seven of Edgewood’s last nine outs were Malinkey strikeouts, as she made good use of her change-up to replace the riser.
Piazza said it was also partly because she didn’t get sufficient warm-up pitches.
“Saturday we’ll know the timetable and get her enough pitches,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a while to get her ready.”
Malinkey has 92 strikeouts in seven tournament games and 330 for the season, second-best in school history.
“Yeah, I guess you could say I had a slow start,” Malinkey said. “I think I was a) still figuring out the strike zone and that b) they did a very good job of laying off my riseball. I was trying to work other pitches in and see what they would chase. We really turned to the change-up instead of the riseball as the ‘out’ pitch.
“(The plate umpire) did a good job,” she said. “He was just a little hard to figure out at first. I’m more of a high pitcher, so I had to bring everything down. He did call it more low than high. But after I figured it out, it was OK.”
Coach Jim Piazza said Malinkey might have had a slow start, but in the final analysis, her performance was typical.
“Overall, Kristie did what she’s done all year,” he said. “She keeps us in the ballgame until we get going offensively, and sometimes it takes us a couple times through the lineup to see what we can do. But Kristie’s Kristie. We know if the score is tight, she’s going to have us in the game until we get some offense.”
Burt’s run in the second inning was big. The score remained 1-0 until the sixth and Edgewood had baserunners every inning but the fifth. To be sure, the Warriors had runners at first and second with two out in the sixth and first baseman Allison Adkins at bat for the third time.
Adkins had singled sharply to left field in each of her first two at-bats and another would have most likely tied the game. But Malinkey got her to miss badly on a 2-2 change-up to get out of the inning.
Malinkey was told about Adkins’ hitting up to that point.
“Good thing I didn’t know that,” she said, and laughed.
With Keystone in the driver’s seat 5-0, Malinkey got the side in order in the seventh on two strikeouts and a pop-up to Megan Coyne at shortstop.
The Wildcats put it out of reach with a four-run sixth inning in which they sent eight batters to the plate. Freshman Kara Dill, the all-state second baseman, led off with a bunt single, then took second when Malinkey reached on an error. Coyne singled to left scoring Dill and moving Malinkey to second. Malinkey and Coyne ran home on Burt’s second triple and Burt scored the fifth run when Kate Yeo reached on another Edgewood error.
“I thought we hit the ball pretty well up to that point,” Piazza said. “It was just right at people.”
NEXT UP
WHAT: Division I and II state softball finals
WHO: Division I — Elyria (28-5) vs. North Canton Hoover (30-2);
Division II — Keystone (31-2) vs. Circleville (23-8)
WHEN: Saturday — Division II at 10 a.m.; Division I at 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Brookside Park, Ashland
RADIO: WEOL 930-AM