BOWLING GREEN (Crawford County Now) — This time the end was never in doubt.
No nail biting. No seventh-inning heroics. Just a strong performance in all phases of the game for Mohawk.
The Lady Warriors (25-5) scored three times in the first inning, and unlike previous post-season contests, cruised to a 7-1 win over Defiance Ayersville in a Division VII regional final Friday night at Meserve Field on the campus of Bowling Green State University.
“They didn’t wait this time. They got three in the first inning. I was happy about that,” said head coach Mindy Walton.
“I was very impressed with our girls in the box, laying off the high stuff, sitting back on the changeups. They did everything we talked about and executed really, really well.”
The win puts Mohawk in the state semifinal game against Monroeville (26-3) at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
Emily Brickner led off the game with a walk, sister Mallory Brickner followed with a single to center field and Aubrey Gottfried hit a two-run single. She went to third base and scored on an Ayersville error.
Gottfried was 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. She hurled a complete game with 9 strikeouts and a pair of walks.
“We knew that she (Kendra Waldron) was going to throw a lot of rise balls, so we knew to lay off it. Her changeup, we really adjusted to that and made solid contact,” Gottfried said.
Waldron struck out 10 and issued four bases on balls.
“We wanted to make her throw a lot of pitches. Watching her against (Tiffin) Calvert and in those 3-1, 3-2 counts she was jamming (them) inside,” Walton said.
“You at least got to foul it off and get to the next pitch and we did a great job of that.”
Gottfried said her command in the circle was due to preparation.
“I practiced a lot before the game and worked on hitting my spots. Luckily, tonight I hit my spots and relied on my defense,” she said.
Getting an early lead took a bit of pressure off the sophomore pitcher.
“It really helped me out a lot because our last two games we waited until the seventh inning to score,” she said. “But you can never stop and just settle because you never know when they can come back.”
Mohawk added solo runs in the third and fifth innings. Gottfried singled and scored on a bloop single down the right field line by Anna Russell.
Mallory Brickner tripled to center to open the fifth and scored on an infield error to make it 5-0.
Mallory Brickner was also a force behind the plate. She picked off two Pilot base runners, including a wicked throw to first after a Gottfried strikeout to catch an Ayersville runner for a double play to end the second inning.
“She kept saying, ‘Coach, why are they still stealing on me. I just picked somebody off.’ I said, ‘I don’t know, and I don’t care. Just keep doing it.’
“She’s been a standout all year and in the conference she doesn’t get a lot of chances because people aren’t stealing on her. Hats off to her. She did a great job back there.”
In the fifth inning Ayersville had runners on second and third, but Gottfried escaped without surrendering a run. The lone Pilot run came in the seventh on a Danniella Coble double, a groundout and a wild pitch.
“I’m super proud of this team. We came in with no goals this year, just play the game they love playing,” Pilots head coach Bill Zartman said.
“We had 17 wins in a row after losing our first four. The journey’s been awesome. I can’t ask any more of the girls. They played super hard today.”
In 2018, Walton’s first year as head coach, the team lost a regional final game at Akron, to Hillsdale 3-0. That team went on to win the state title.
She was also on the staff on the 2005 state championship team.
Walton said the entire team has contributed to this season’s success that includes a Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and 12-2 record, a district crown and a regional championship.
“The seniors have just stepped up to the plate. We were down on Wednesday, and they have just been stellar and have taken the team under their wing,” she said.
Left fielder Trenna Johnson, one of five seniors on the squad, had a solid week. She had two hits in the semifinal win over Hilltop and added a second inning double on Friday.
“It’s exciting. We’ve never made it past districts before,” she said.
“We’re playing really, really good. I just go up to the plate with a good attitude thinking I’m going to hit the ball. Even out in the field, if a ball goes by me I try to relax and get the next one.”
Walton sensed this team could be special.
“Just watching them, how they get along and their team chemistry. I knew if we worked on certain things and got our defense where we wanted it to be. We make contact all the way through the line-up.”
Getting to the state tournament wasn’t on Gottfried’s mind early in the spring.
“It wasn’t, but now that we’re here it’s really unbelievable what we’ve accomplished this season.”
And now with her team heading to the state Final Four?
“Just to go out, have fun, relax and play our game, and if we do that we’ll be all right.”
Box score
Ayersville 000 000 1 1 4 2
Mohawk 301 012 X 7 10 0
WP: Aubrey Gottfried (9 SO, 2 W)
LP: Kendra Walden (10 SO, 4 W)
HR: None.
Triples: (A) Aerial Brown; (M) Emily Brickner.
Doubles: (A) Daniella Coble; (M) Mallory Brickner, Trenna Johnson, Katie Woodland.
Multiple hits: (M) Aubrey Gottfried 3, Mallory Brickner.
Records: Ayersville 18-5; Mohawk 25-5.
Next: Mohawk vs. Monroeville, Division VII state semifinal, Wednesday, at Akron; Ayersville season over.