MILAN — Clear Fork’s trip to the district championship game had more curves than the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.
Yet the Colts steered their way around the final obstacle by edging a tenacious Shelby bunch in a 6-4 Division II district semifinal Thursday afternoon at Edison High School.
That verdict sends coach Jeff Gottfried’s top-seeded squad into Saturday’s noon date back in Milan against fourth-seeded Upper Sandusky.
“Hopefully we’ll be a little more relaxed on Saturday,” Gottfried said.
Both teams were shaky, particularly defensively, combing for seven errors. There were four lead changes, but Clear Fork got the final flurry with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to finish it.
“It’s a seven inning-game and we had some pressure situations,” Gottfried said. “We had the right kids up in the (fifth) inning to drive in a couple of runs.”
To that point, sixth-seeded Shelby was on the verge of an upset. The Whippets scored a run in the first inning when Richland Bank Athlete of the Year Kennadie Goth slapped a single to left, stole second, moved to third on a throwing error, and scored on a bunt.
“We had the game by the horns,” Shelby coach Natalie Huggins said. “We scored in the first inning, which was our gameplan. We got a run in the first inning, but we didn’t execute defensively.”
That was true particularly in the first inning. Clear Fork scored three runs in the bottom of the inning without a hit, capitalizing on two walks, three stolen bases and a pair of errors.
But Shelby chipped away, notching single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to move on top 4-3 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
That’s when the Clear Fork bats broke loose. The Colts smacked three hits and utilized two errors, a stolen base and a wild pitch to take the lead for good at 6-4.
That, and a perfect throw after a passed ball, was all senior ace Darian Gottfried would need. She allowed just one hit after that, sophomore Emma Taylor’s third knock of the night. Taylor singled to right, moved to second on a fielder’s choice, and scooted to third on a fly ball to right. She tried to score on a passed ball but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw from catcher Haylie Miller.
“That’s just athleticism, you can’t teach that,” Gottfried said. “It was a huge play.”
Huggins argued the call briefly, but noted Shelby also had a runner thrown out at third.
“I think our hitters getting four runs off Darian Gottfried is pretty darn good,” Huggins said. “We had our chances.”
Gottfried slammed the door from there, whiffing seven without a walk to extend her career at least one more game.
Meanwhile, Goth’s sterling career ended after a two-hit performance as the Whippets finished 16-11.
“The kids bought into everything we asked of them,” Huggins said. “We want to be able to compete with the Clear Fork’s and the Upper Sandusky’s and the Bellevue’s.”
They did exactly that in this tournament run.
