Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — Bend, but don’t break.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
That’s what Ironton coach Jim Dyer has preached to his girls over the course of this season.
On Thursday, Dyer’s motto became reality.
After Northwest took a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning of a Division III district semifinal, it felt like do or die time in the Tigers’ dugout. And, instead of rolling over, they came out roaring.
Their answer was three runs in the sixth, giving themselves a 6-5 lead before tacking on two more in the seventh for an 8-5 final and a trip to a district championship game.
“I’m so proud of them for not hanging in their heads,” Dyer said. “We’ve worked so hard. This is a special group of kids right here and they’re only going to get better. Bend but don’t break. When adversity hits, what are you going to do? We have to have each other’s backs. They’ve done that and it gets better everyday. In true Fighting Tiger fashion, they fought until the end.”
In the circle, Bella Sorbilli picked up the win in 3 ⅓ innings of relief work.
The junior didn’t surrender a hit and struck out four, silencing the Mohawks’ bats while giving her team a chance to complete its comeback attempt.
“Bella is a special kid,” Dyer said. “She competes and she’s a tough-nosed kid. We have to keep her in check sometimes, but her efforts sometimes drive this team to the next level. That’s only going to get better as we go. She’ll do anything we ask her to do. She’s that type of player.”
Ironton (16-7) wasted no time in gracing the scoreboard.
After Khamil Martin worked a walk in the top of the first inning, Emily Weber knocked her in with an RBI double for a 1-0 score.
That tally remained until the bottom of the second when Northwest (16-11) forced a 1-1 tie. Mollyann Runyon started the inning with a double before scoring on an RBI single from Alyssa Ferguson.
The Tigers, however, answered in the third.
Graycie Brammer and Weber each walked just before Aubrey Ferguson tripled to clear the bases and produce a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Mohawks scored on a bases loaded walk to Kallie Childers, a passed ball that plated Alyssa Ferguson, an RBI single from Lauren Redoutey and a wild pitch that allowed Childers to scamper home.
After all that, Northwest had a 5-3 lead and Ironton’s season was officially on life support.
But instead of hanging their heads, the Tigers chose to claw and scratch their way back into things.
Katelyn Moore and Kenley Neal logged back-to-back singles to begin the sixth before Katelyn Williams singled to score Moore and cut the deficit to 5-4. Two batters later, Brammer laced a two-run single into center field to put Ironton back in front — for good — at 6-5.
“We’ve worked on that since the second week of April,” Dyer said. “Our M.O. is that we couldn’t hit an outside pitch. Everyday that we had to get into the cage, that’s all we worked on … getting patient, not swinging at bad pitches and not missing the good ones. They’ve taken it to heart.”
Insurance was added in the top of the seventh when Aubrey Ferguson scored on a passed ball just before Williams knocked in Sorbilli with an RBI single to make the 8-5 score a final.
Statistically, Neal led the Tigers’ offense, going 2-for-4 while Ferguson finished 1-for-4 with a triple, a run and two RBIs. Sorbilli went 1-for-4 with a double and a run, Weber was 1-for-3 with a double, a run, a walk and an RBI, and Brammer finished 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
For Northwest, Runyon was 1-for-1 with a double, a run and three intentional walks. Ferguson followed, going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Northwest, which graduates just one senior, ends its season while Ironton advances to a Division III district championship game against Portsmouth West — a 7-1 winner over Westfall — at 3 p.m., Sunday at Unioto.
“We have to be a little quicker with the bats, eliminate the errors on defense and come to play ball,” Dyer said. “If we come in with a good attitude and give it 150 percent, good things will happen.”
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