ASHLAND — Madison is one win from state — again.

Caliyah Clapper tossed a two-hit shutout and the Rams advanced to the Elite Eight for a second straight season with a 7-0 win over Ontario in the Division III regional semifinal at Ashland University’s Deb Miller Field on Wednesday.

Madison (15-14) will play Unionton Lake at 5 p.m. Friday at AU for a regional title and a berth in next week’s state tournament. Lake beat Chardon 8-6 in Wednesday’s early game.

A hard-throwing right-hander, Clapper was overpowering. She struck out 11 and walked just one.

It was a stark difference from an early-season meeting between the Richland County rivals, won by Ontario, 13-3. Clapper gave up three runs in just one inning as she worked her way back from a hip injury.

“She’s healthy and she trusts her hip,” longtime Madison coach Tim Niswander said. “I think she was babying it a little bit and wasn’t using it to push off like she could.

“So her velocity was down which, in turn made her spin pitches not break like they normally do.”

Run Support

The Rams scored the only run they would need in the top of the third. 

Izzy Wamsley laced a one-out single to center, stole second and came around to score on Clapper’s single to center.

Madison blew it open in the fourth, scoring three runs with two out. Wamsley drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 before Lexi Lewis delivered the biggest hit of the day, a two-run single to right on an 0-2 count to make it 4-0.

“I had top-notch confidence and I just knew what I had to do to get it done,” Lewis said. “If we have one thing go our way, it picks up everyone.”

The Rams struck for three more runs in the top of the fifth to put it away. 

Allie Shrader got thing going with a one-out infield single and came around to score on Chloe Jeffers’ double to center. Jeffers scored on Makena Berkshire’s single to center and Avery O’Brien’s sacrifice bunt plated the final run.

Dealing

That was more than enough for Clapper. She retired 14 in a row before surrendering a two-out single to Ellie Dawson in the bottom of the sixth. She threw 88 pitches, 70 for strikes.

“We’re a pretty good-hitting team and she held us to two,” Ontario coach Jamee Burke said. “She did a great job of keeping us off balance, kind of jamming us inside and then getting us to chase that outside pitch  or that off-speed pitch.”

Catching Fire

Madison seven straight games late in the season and was 10-14 in mid-May. The Rams have won five in a row since then, including three tournament games.

“We’re not 15-14, we’re 3-0,” Niswander said. “We’re just playing the way we thought we were capable of playing now.”