MASSILLON – They fell just short of a trip to state, but the Elyria Catholic Panthers went further than ever.
Elyria Catholic’s historic tournament run came to a halt May 30 with a 4-0 loss to Warren Champion in the Division III Massillon regional final.
The Panthers (16-15) entered the tournament with a 12-14 record. Seeded third in the Division III Avon Lake District, the Panthers started their run with an 11-3 upset over first-seeded Wellington. They thumped Gilmour, 10-0, and outlasted Independence, 4-3, for the district title.
A regional semifinal against 21-6 Canfield South Range followed, and the Panthers won, 5-4.
It all ended at the hands of a 27-4 Champion team, ranked fifth in the Division III state coaches’ poll.
‘That’s the difference between a team that’s been to this position 10 times and a team that’s been to this place once,’ Panthers coach Ryan Minney said.
‘They’ve been here many, many times and this is the first time we’ve ever been here in school history, so that’s the difference. Now we know how to prepare and we’re going to take another shot at it next year.’
Champion wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning as Megan Turner sent a solo shot over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead.
Elyria Catholic held tight through the second and third innings, despite the absence of No. 3 hitter Ally Kamody, who suffered an injury during an at-bat in the first inning. She was replaced with Meghan Allegretto.
The Flashes took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning as Molly Williams led off with a single to left and reached second on a sacrifice bunt. Williams stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Alayna Fell.
Meanwhile, Champion pitcher Haylee Gardiner’s tough mix of change-ups and drop balls had Elyria Catholic hitters off-balance all afternoon. Gardiner ended the afternoon with 14 strikeouts, surrendering just three hits. Elyria Catholic base runners never reached beyond first.
‘We were focusing on keeping our back foot lined up so we could reach the outside of the plate,’ Panthers right fielder Riley Schill said. ‘…We just focused on doing what we know how to do. It didn’t end up working but now we know what we need to do.’
Champion added insurance runs in the fifth inning as Amber Ricci and Turner hit consecutive singles to left for one run. Williams’ second hit of the day was a double to center to score Turner for the 4-0 advantage.
Though the season ended sooner than they had hoped, the Panthers anticipate a repeat run in the near future. Their expectations are warranted as all players on the roster can return. The Panthers played without a single senior this season.
‘We know how to prepare,’ Minney said. ‘We’ve got to get serious. This past year, our winter workouts, it was just a couple girls here, a couple girls there. Now we’ve got to get serious. We’ve got to have everyone there. We’ve got to get everyone hitting. We can’t wait until halfway through the season to start hitting.’
Making their first regional appearance in school history, the Panthers understand the impact their season has made for their program.
‘I told them, you earned a second-place trophy and you earned some respect today,’ Minney said he told his team.
‘The program in the past has been a little shaky,’ Schill said. ‘Coach Minney has done a heck of a job turning it around and we gave it our all.’
