SHELBY — The post-game smiles mixed with tears told the story of a bittersweet ending to a storybook season.

Margaretta edged Galion 5-4 in a pitchers’ duel to capture the Division III district softball championship here Friday night.

“They’ve definitely changed the culture of this program. People keep coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh coach, you turned this program around.’ I tell them I didn’t do anything. I’m just here. I’m a body,” Galion head coach Calli Bauer said.

“They are the ones who bought in as a whole, all 14 of them. They bought into the program and what we need to do and made Galion softball relevant again and that’s exciting.”

Skylar Colvin struck out 11 Lady Tiger hitters to get the win. Sophomore Madison “Maddie” Beck fanned 10 Lady Bears in taking a tough loss. Both pitchers had five walks.

Beck took a line drive to the ribs in the second inning off the bat of Lilly Edwards. But she remained in the circle and pitched a solid game.

“I’ve gotten drilled a lot in the past so I’m kind of used to it. It just takes me a minute to catch my breath. I was completely fine after that,” said Beck, still holding an ice bag to her left ribcage 15 minutes after the game ended.

Galion took a 1-0 lead on a Destiny Blue single, scoring Kaitlyn McKee who had walked. Blue drove in three of the team’s runs.

Margaretta answered back with a Cassie Lane two-run homer after Edwards singled sharply off of Beck.

“That homer was probably because I was still winded and everything,” Beck said. “But I take accountability for it because I put it right down the middle. My lungs (hurt) a little bit and I’ve been sick the past week or two.”

Innings two, three and four were scoreless. Colvin put Galion down on strikes in the second inning.

In the fourth Beck walked Brooke Hastings but retired the next two hitters on strikeouts. Second baseman Cameron Eckert made a terrific diving catch of a line drive off Katelyn Cox’s bat to open the inning.

Margaretta head coach Dale Dawson credited both clubs with outstanding play.

“That’s kind of a small capsule of our season. There were plenty of times that we could have quit. We fell behind in the first. We had some demoralizing plays in the fifth inning, whatever that was. We could have quit. These kids don’t quit. We play above our heads,” he said.

“Battle, battle, battle.”

Galion’s talent also was noticed, including Beck’s pitching.

“Holy heck. All the way through the lineup I was impressed. Good pitching. Good coaching. Just fundamental softball … the district finals.

“She (Beck) was fantastic. We hadn’t seen that one. She’s kind of long coming off the mound. Kept everything low and I didn’t know she had that good of a change-up and she got that going midway through the game and kept some of our bigger hitters off balance.”

The play Dawson referenced was a flyball that centerfielder Eli Belak caught despite colliding with the leftfielder Cox.

Blue’s two-run single put Galion ahead 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning as Eckert and McKee crossed the plate.

CeCe Campbell was intentionally walked for the second time. She was also hit by two pitches to go 0-0 officially.

The Lady Bears won it in the bottom of the fifth with two outs.

Delaney Fields singled to score Edwards. Cox drilled a pitch over the reach of Blue at first base driving in courtesy runner Ella Limberios and Fields.

Colvin retired three Galion batters in the sixth.

But McKee launched a ball over the left field fence to make it a 5-4 game in the seventh. With one out Campbell got hit by another pitch, stole second and Galion had the tying run in scoring position.

But Colvin struck out the next two batters to preserve the win and send Margaretta to a regional matchup with either Oak Harbor or Defiance Tinora on Wednesday in Findlay.

“Their pitcher is the best pitcher we’ve faced all year. She gets hitters to swing and miss. It’s not that she was overpowering, or her spins were too great. We were swinging at balls that were out of our zone. But hats off to her. She made us swing and miss and we were chasing not good pitches,” Bauer said.

“Maddie got us a ton of ground balls (six) which is good. After she got hit, I was nervous. After she hurt her ribs that bomb, the ball drifted a little bit over the plate, not a ton. Man, bulldog, bulldog up. She has really picked it up and has relied on her stuff. Her change-up was phenomenal and her curveball was great hitting her spots.”

The home run hurt, but it wasn’t a fatal blow.

“That girl’s (Lane) swing is pretty. After that I said we’re not giving her anything else good. That and the three hole were kept to minimum damage. But in that fifth inning, the bottom of their order just killed us,” she said.

“They had a couple more hits strung together than we did. We had the bases loaded a couple of times and runners in scoring position that we just couldn’t get around.”

Campbell and Ava Ball are big losses to graduation.

“I tell them all the time they left the program better than they found it. They’re phenomenal leaders. Ava, we call her the team mom. She’s more quiet, like one of the parents. CeCe is loud and in your face, so they’re a good duo,” Bauer said.

Ball got injured early, fought her way back and manned right field.

“CeCe is a wall behind the plate. You have all these people with 20-something stolen bases on the year and they won’t even try to run on her because they know she’s phenomenal back there.”

After a tough start and an 0-6 mark the team needed something.

“We didn’t know our identity yet. We got run-ruled by Clear Fork and run-ruled twice by Shelby. Those are top of the MOAC. But once we started the winning streak (nine of their last 11 games) we realized we can hit the ball too. That was the turning point for us.”

Bauer said the game has changed since she played for the Lady Tigers.

“When I played it was more of a defensive game. Your scores were 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 maybe. Now if you’re not scoring five runs it’s tough to win a ball game that’s close like that.

“We definitely changed our identity and started hitting a lot more. We began to understand our approaches at the plate, and we aren’t swinging for the fences every single time. That’s what switched it to go in the right direction.”

Box score

Galion             100 020 1        4        4       1

Margaretta    200 030 X         5        6       0

WP: Skylar Colvin (11 SO, 5 W)

LP: Madison Beck (10 SO, 5 W)

HR: (G) Kaitlyn McKee (solo 7th inning); (M) Cassie Lane (2-run first inning).

Triples: None.

Doubles: (M) Katelyn Cox.

Multiple hits: (G) Destiny Blue; (M) Lilly Edwards.

Records: Galion 13-13; Margaretta 19-10.

Next: Galion season over; Margaretta vs. Oak Harbor/Defiance Tinora winner, regional semifinal, May 22 at Findlay.