Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
AKRON — The Division VII state softball crown is staying in its place.
Following last season’s state championship run — the first in program history — Notre Dame bid adieu to just one starter.
And somehow, throughout the year, naysayers refused to believe that magical season had happened.
In fact, in the season’s final Ohio High School Softball Coaches Poll, the Titans were ranked third without a single first place vote.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
But on Friday night, coach Shad Ford’s bunch proved that talk is exactly that — talk.
And if you walk like a champion, you don’t even hear the noise in the first place.
While relying on junior pitcher Ava Rush to hang zeroes all evening, the Titans sealed a 3-0 shutout win over Cortland Maplewood at Akron’s Firestone Stadium to claim their second straight state crown.
With the opportunity to score first, Notre Dame (28-4) took full advantage of that chance.
After a leadoff single from Jaysa Bryant, two batters later, Lyndsey Schaefer slapped an RBI single through the left side to put her teammates ahead 1-0.
Maplewood (28-3) committed a throwing error during the next at-bat, allowing Schaefer to score and push the lead to 2-0.
Bryant led off the third with her second single of the night and, after advancing to third, she scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-0.
While the offense was getting it done, so was Ava Rush and the Titans’ defense.
They were quick to react, made the fundamental plays and refused to allow Maplewood a sniff at a score.
The Rockets didn’t even get their first hit of the game until the bottom of the fourth, but a groundout in the next at-bat ended any further threat.
In the seventh, Maplewood got a single to begin the frame. But a sacrifice bunt, a strikeout and a pop out sealed the deal on the Titans’ second straight state championship victory.
Statistically, Rush tossed all seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine hitters. Bryant led the team’s offense, going 3-for-3 with a run, while Schaefer finished 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Kate Entler also logged a base hit.
NOTE: SOSA will have additional details, photos and postgame comments from Akron this evening.
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