SHELBY — A tired and sweaty CeCe Campbell exuded confidence after she and her Galion teammates made easy work of Milan Edison in the Division III district semifinal game Wednesday night.
The sixth-seed Lady Tigers continued their upset streak with a dominant 17-0 win to advance to the district title game Friday night. They also continued their hit parade, banging out 14 hits.
“We practiced our butts off offensively yesterday and it paid off, for sure,” said Campbell. “We were all hitting the ball to the fence every single time. During warm-ups we knew we were going to kill the ball. We started up and we stayed up the whole entire time.”
The senior catcher got things going with a solo home run to left centerfield in the first inning. She added a double and a single to drive in six runs.
Junior Madelyn Schieber added a two-run blast in the third to bring in her and Campbell, who had walked. Schieber also had three hits and drove in three runs.
“We were hunting for our pitches and only our pitches because we knew the umpire’s strike zone,” Campbell said. “That’s how we won.”
Galion also knows the field well.
“We play Shelby in conference (MOAC), but it’s completely different pitching. It helps tremendously because the fence is so much shorter (than Galion’s field).”
Campbell attributes the recent hitting prowess to a single word.
“Energy,” she said.
“We’re not just playing for ourselves. We’re playing for our team, and we know that if we make a mistake, our team’s got our back. We know if someone doesn’t get on, the next girl is going to pick us up.”
The hitting barrage was complemented by stellar pitching from sophomore Maddie Beck. Beck struck out six and walked one, giving up one hit, a first-inning single to Audrey Linder.
“All season we’ve said if we can get CeCe and Madelyn hitting at the same time, we’re gonna be hot. Because what they do is they pitch around CeCe, but tonight they were in a position where they couldn’t pitch around her and they had to go right at her,” Galion head coach Calli Bauer said.
“She took that, and she hit balls hard. Same thing with Schieber. Both went 3-for-3 tonight. Right in the middle of the order. You can’t ask for anything better.”
Freshman Abigail Cloud took the loss for Edison with two strikeouts and six walks over four innings. Linder and right fielder Cydnie Barnicle are the only two seniors for the Chargers.
The 14 hits represents one of Galion’s highest totals of the season and makes it 39 hits over the past three wins.
Galion added four runs in the fourth.
Ava Ball singled to score Adalyn Perry. Kortnie Ganshorn got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before Campbell drove in a pair with a sharp single.
But the fifth inning proved fatal for the Chargers.
Kaitlyn McKee, Beck, and Cameron Eckert added base hits to go along with two Edison errors and several wild pitches.
Bauer took her team to practice at Northmor on Tuesday since the Heise Park field was hosting a Division IV tournament.
“CeCe was awesome tonight. She didn’t have the best practice of her life. But instead of it affecting her she went last night and hit with her dad. This morning, she hit multiple times. She is one of the most hard-working kids I’ve ever met,” she said.
“She does a great job behind the plate and offensively she’s a powerhouse. She’s a great leader.”
Bauer said Galion scouted Edison against Upper Sandusky in the sectional final last Friday.
“We watched her (Cloud), and we came prepared. They’re doing a good job and I’m just so proud of them. It’s Cinderella season and we’re just having fun with it,” she said.
Beck’s performance in the circle also drew praise.
“She did a great job hitting her spots. Her curve ball and her change-up were on tonight. She actually had her 200th career strikeout as a sophomore tonight, so that’s a big deal for her.
“This season we’ve kind of battled her not to press and not try to do too much. Put balls in play and the girls took care of it. I think sometimes as a pitcher — and I used to pitch too — we put too much pressure on ourselves. You think it’s all on you, so she’s realizing that it’s not just her and she’s doing a good job.”
Next up is Margaretta. The No. 3 Lady Bears downed No. 1 seed Huron 9-0 in the first game.
“District championship. We’re excited. We watched a little bit of Margaretta. They seem very similar to us. I saw a couple home runs,” Bauer said.
“Their pitcher throws well. A little bit of spin and a little bit of movement. As long as we stick with our approaches we had tonight, I think we’re going to be fine.”
Campbell, one of only two seniors along with Ball, was on the team that didn’t win a game three years ago.
“We have all the confidence in the world. The way we’re playing together is phenomenal. Even when we have a bad inning, we shake it off because we know our offense is going to pick us up,” she said.
The Lady Tigers had three wins in 2022 and eight last season. With the arrival of Bauer, the approach and the culture has changed.
“Our coaching staff seems like they care more and putting more effort into us and it’s showing, obviously. Our practices have changed tremendously. Our dugout, we’re allowed to cheer now. The energy level has completely changed because our coaches are so involved,” Campbell said.
Box score
Galion 103 49X X 17 14 0
Edison 000 00X X 0 1 2
WP: Madison Beck (6 SO, 1 W)
LP: Abby Cloud (2 SO, 6 W)
HR: (G) CeCe Campbell (solo first inning, Madelyn Schieber 2-run 3rd inning).
Triples: None.
Doubles: (G) CeCe Campbell, Madelyn Schieber.
Multiple hits: (G) CeCe Campbell 3, Madelyn Schieber 3, Cameron Eckert, Adalyn Perry, Ava Ball.
Records: Galion 13-12; Edison 11-13.
Next: Galion vs. Margaretta, Division III district final at Shelby, Friday; Willard at Milan Edison, at Shelby, Thursday.