KENTON (Crawford County Now) — Allison Russell wasn’t overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment, although she could have been.

The scenario: Bottom of the seventh with her team tied 1-1 and facing elimination. She had struck out in her previous plate appearance.

No pressure, right? Not enough to deter her.

Mohawk’s senior center fielder calmly drilled a single to drive in the winning run as the Lady Warriors claimed a 2-1 win over New Riegel in the Division VII Northwest 3 district title game here Saturday afternoon.

“I just kind of went up there knowing I had to put the ball in play somewhere and help us score,” Russell said. “I kind of knew that if it went out and they caught it, we could still tag up and score.”

No need for that.

The ball solidly landed on the center field grass allowing Blake Miller to score. Miller had walked and advanced on a double steal.

Sophomore third baseman Katie Woodland opened the inning with a double to left center field and scored the tying run.

The win advances No. 1 seed Mohawk to a regional semifinal at 2 p.m. Wednesday against Hilltop at Bowling Green State University’s Meserve Field. The Cadets topped Edgerton 8-5 to win their district.

“I was just really trying to hit it. It definitely made me feel a little better that we had only one out. But I was still kind of nervous, but I just knew I had to do it,” Russell said.

The game was a true pitchers’ duel between Aubrey Gottfried and Karsyn Piper. Gottfried struck out 16 Blue Jacket hitters, while Piper put down 10 Mohawk batters.

“We knew coming into this game, you have two schools close together. The girls know each other and know our strengths and weaknesses. And we know it’s going to be a fight ’til the end,” Lady Warriors head coach Mindy Walton said.

“We had that (fourth) inning there where Katie was on second and Aubrey hit that shot. What a great hit ball and what an amazing catch out there. You could feel the whole roller coaster of emotions the whole game.”

A great catch by right fielder Claire Schalk prevented what could have been a Mohawk run after Woodland had reached base on a single and advanced on a throwing error.

Gottfried struck out the side in four innings — the first, second, third and fifth. She had command of her fastball and deftly mixed up her speed and location.

“I came back and pitched a lot better. Last year we lost to them twice and this year we played them three months ago … and I had like 10 walks,” Gottfried said.

This time she had just two bases on balls, along with giving up two singles.

“I’ve been able to hit the strike zone because lately I’ve been missing outside or high,” she said.

The Blue Jackets had the game in hand despite Gottfried’s mastery. They plated their lone run in the third inning thanks to a single by Ashlyn Bouillon that brought in Ava Wensick, who had walked and stolen second base.

“We outplayed ’em for 6 and 1/2 innings,” New Riegel head coach Tony Conner said. “You get into the bottom of the seventh and you’ve got jitters against one of the best players around here. Katie got on base and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Conner intentionally walked Gottfried to put runners at first and second. Piper walked Miller (one of four BBs).

After a wild pitch and an infield groundout, Russell came to bat. She wasted no time hitting the first offering and driving in the winning run.

“It was nice to see our freshman Blake get the walk and score the winning run,” Walton said. “Our senior (Russell) stepped up and a lot of great things happened today.”

Trailing going into the last inning “definitely is not where you want to be,” she added.

“Katie’s been on a roller coaster lately, but she got up there and I just said, ‘Get up there and swing the bat,’ and that’s what she did.”

Woodland came into the game leading the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in home runs and RBI and carrying a .482 batting average.

Winning district titles is nothing new in Sycamore. In fact, the storied program now has amassed 17 district crowns and four regional championships.

“It’s not easy and it never gets old,” Walton said. “It never gets easy to be here and it’s a great challenge to be here. I think my seniors — it was their freshmen year is the last time we won one. So we were due.”

In 2022, competing in Division IV, the Lady Warriors downed Plymouth 11-6 to win the district championship. They then fell in the regional semifinal to Van Wert Lincolnview, 5-4.

New Riegel also has a strong tradition.

“I have a lot of faith for us to be successful. We have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. We were SBC outright champions. I firmly believe it’s one of the most competitive conferences around here,” Conner said.

“We’ve come a long way and we’re still learning the game. But where we are going is the right direction for us.”

Box score

New Riegel   001 000 0        1       2      2

Mohawk        000 000 2        2       4      0

WP: Aubrey Gottfried (16 SO, 2 W)

LP: Karsyn Piper (10 SO, 4 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (M) Katie Woodland.

Multiple hits: (M) Katie Woodland.

Records: New Riegel 21-5; Mohawk 22-5.

Next: New Riegel season over; Mohawk vs. Hilltop, Division VII regional semifinal, Wednesday, at Bowling Green.