LUCAS — Anna Westfield couldn’t explain what was running through her mind as she stepped back into the batter’s box early Saturday afternoon at Kent State University — and with good reason.
Processing all the various factors in play would have been enough to buckle the knees of the Richland Bank Athlete of the Week.
Lucas trailed Vienna Mathews 4-3 in the Division IV regional final.
It was the bottom of the seventh inning.
There were two out.
Westfield was behind in the count 0-2.
The potential game-tying run stood at third base.
Lesser athletes might have been overwhelmed by the crippling pressure, but not Westfield. The senior second baseman climbed back into the box and promptly knocked in the game-tying run. Junior Liz Yirga followed with a game-winning base hit to send the Cubs to the state tournament for the first time in school history.
In fact, the softball team is just the second Lucas team to qualify for state in school history. The 1991 baseball team was the only other.
“It was kind of nerve-racking, but I knew what I needed to do,” Westfield said during a jubilant postgame celebration. “I can’t even explain what I was thinking. It was just nuts.”
In reaching the state tournament, the Cubs upset a pair of state-ranked opponents. Mathews was ninth in Division IV in the final Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association state poll. The Cubs upset fifth-ranked Hillsdale in the regional semifinals.
“It hasn’t set in at all. It’s so unreal for all of us,” said Westfield, who was hitless in her three previous appearances Saturday. “We’re trying to just soak it all in.
“We thought it was possible all year and we’re just getting it done now.”
The Cubs (22-6) will take on Mid-Buckeye Conference rival Danville (28-2) in the state semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at Akron Firestone Stadium. Danville, which finished second in the final coaches state poll, beat Lucas twice during the regular season in April.
The winner will return to play for a state championship at 1 p.m. Saturday against either Williamsburg or Carey.
“It feels amazing,” Yirga said. “We’ve never done this in school history. We go down in the (record) books this year.”
