,
It was another new challenge for the Keystone softball team and another day where it persevered and prevailed.
The Wildcats (12-1), ranked No. 1 in the Division II state coaches poll, had a successful Elyria Classic debut on a warm but windy Saturday.
They defeated Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division rival Wellington in the title game, 6-4, on the fields located behind former Elyria West High School.
"Every win means something but we know what our prize is," said Keystone coach Jim Piazza. "We want to go to Akron and play in the state tournament.
"Our kids don't get real excited about anything right now. They just know we have a lot of learning to do."
Keystone reached the championship game after a hard- fought, 2-1 semifinal win over St. Vincent-St. Mary (7-9). The Wildcats trailed, 1-0, in the bottom of the sixth, but Kim Kokoski singled in the tying run and Kenzie Conrad doubled to knock in the go-ahead run.
"It was meatball right down the middle," said Kokoski, whose hit in the sixth erased her fifth-inning error at second base that scored Emily Wilde, who doubled. "I went up [to bat] wanting to fix that mistake, so I just cleared my mind and hit the ball."
SVSM coach Shannon Bender had a feeling one run would not stand up.
"We were playing pretty good defense but I
knew we needed to score more runs because Keystone's a good-hitting team," said
Bender, whose team was limited to two hits off Wildcat freshman right-hander Bee
Shaw.
Keystone wasted little time setting the tempo in the championship game.
Singles by Taylor Bell, Erin Pond, Becky
Nielsen, Kokoski and Taylor Kessinger's double helped spot the Wildcats a 4-0
lead in the first inning.
They tallied two more runs in the top of the third when Pond and Bri Buckley
doubled, and Nielsen hit a single through the box.
Wellington (9-2), ranked No. 9 in the Division III state poll, responded with four runs in its half of the fourth on singles by Cassie Gleisner, Melissa Rennie, and Courtney Echstenkamper, and Callie McConnell's double to right field.
"There were a lot of things going in my head that game which probably shouldn't have been," said Conrad, who went the distance against the Dukes to improve to 5-1. "This probably wasn't my best game, but I fought through it."
Though coming up a bit short, Wellington's day was salvaged thanks to an eight-inning, 2-0 semifinal victory over host Elyria in a pitcher's duel that featured Akron recruit Gleisner and Elyria senior/Cleveland State recruit Tess Sito.
Gleisner kept the Pioneers (12-2) at bay on five hits, a walk and 11 strikeouts. She also accounted for both of the Dukes' runs when her two-out triple in the eighth inning plated Jackie Bankston and Brooke Lewis.
"We just wanted to stay with Elyria and make a game out of it," said Gleisner. "To come out and actually beat them, that was a big confidence booster and it definitely opened the door to a lot of new phases to the season."
Bankston reached base on one of two Elyria errors and Lewis drew one of three walks off Sito, who deserved a better fate after striking out 16 during her one-hit effort.
"We need more than our top four hitters in our lineup providing most of our offense," said Pioneers coach Ken Fenik, whose team is top-ranked in the Division I state poll. "We had so many opportunities but it was a great softball game.
"If we don't learn from this, we aren't going to get any better."