CLYDE — Makaree Chapman’s changeup had Lake’s loaded lineup twisted in knots.
Lexington’s hard-throwing senior left-hander, Chapman stymied the Flyers with her knee-buckling off-speed pitch in a resounding 9-1 win in the nightcap of a Division IV regional semifinal doubleheader Wednesday at Joe Wilson Field.
Lady Lex (23-3) will play Bryan for a regional title and a berth in next week’s state tournament at 5 p.m. Friday in Clyde. Bryan beat West Geauga 3-2 in Wednesday’s early game.
The Northern Kentucky-bound Chapman allowed just four hits to a team that came in averaging 10 runs per game in the postseason. She struck out eight, walked one and had the Flyers (25-4) off-balance all afternoon.
“I feel pretty comfortable throwing my changeup in any situation,” Chapman said. “I trust in my coach to call the right pitch at the right time and I trust in my catcher to block that pitch at any time.”
Chapman relied almost exclusively on her changeup against Lake’s Parker Dart. The freshman sensation broke Lake’s single-season records for home runs and runs batted in this spring, but was held hitless Wednesday.
“She’s a great hitter,” Chapman said. “We knew we had to be careful with her.”
Lex coach Todd Galownia, who calls the pitches from the dugout, knew how prolific Dart and the rest of the Flyers were. Lake rallied from a 9-4 deficit in its 10-9 district final win over Clyde last week.
“I wasn’t comfortable until the final out was made,” Galownia said. “We watched them play last week and they were down by five runs in the sixth inning. We knew how potent they are.
“That’s why it was important that we got the lead early and kept adding.”
After leaving the bases loaded in the first, Lex got to Lake starter Kali Bedford for two runs in the third.
Quinn Patrick singled sharply to left to open the inning and took second on Alexis Cantrell’s sacrifice bunt. Chapman followed with an infield single with Patrick advancing to third and an error on the play allowed Patrick to score the game’s first run. Chapman advanced to third on the same error and came home on Kylie Thornton’s groundout.
Lex added two more in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Chapman led Lady Lex’s 12-hit attack with three hits, including a double. She scored twice and knocked in a run.
Patrick, Cantrell and Addy Williams each had two hits. Thornton doubled and knocked in three.
Next up for Lady Lex is a rematch with Bryan. The same two teams played in the Division II regional championship game at Shelby last spring. Bryan won 4-1 and advanced to the state final before falling to Canfield.
“One of our goals was to get back to where we were last year,” Chapman said. “We know how good Bryan is. We were hoping we would get the chance to play them again.”