Hot Stove softball: Oberlin walks away a winner over Buckeye in Class A; Enviroland wins Keystone battle

SPENCER — Walk this way had a whole new meaning during Thursday's Class A Hot Stove state quarterfinal game between Oberlin North Coast Wireless and Buckeye Deck Rescue at JB Firestone Memorial Park. They combined for 38 bases on balls. In the end, seventh-seeded Oberlin came through with a few more clutch hits and got strong pitching when it mattered in posting a 14-11 win to improve to 12-4 and advance to the final four in the 9-10 age group against Grafton Midview Nancy's Diner on Saturday at 12:30. Fifth-seeded Deck Rescue finishes the season at 10-8. "We've been preaching to the girls all year to swing and swing hard," North Coast Wireless coach Jake Kessler said. "Nobody wants to walk and steal your way to a victory. This is how the girls learn the game and get better going forward as they get older." It looked like Buckeye was going to do just that because Oberlin starting pitcher MiKayla Keathley never looked comfortable in the first two innings walking 14. But Deck Rescue couldn't get a hit in either inning, scoring the maximum five runs in the first and two in the second to go up 7-2. Oberlin's runs came on a run-scoring triple from Keathley and a wild pitch. Maria Johnson stepped in the circle for North Coast Wireless for the next three innings and settled everything down to give her team a chance to get back in the game, allowing just two runs when Amelia Teconchuk and Joy Conley walked and came around on stolen bases and wild pitches. While Johnson held Buckeye in check, Oberlin crept back into the game. Keathley singled in the third and came around to score on a wild pitch. The big comeback began in the fourth when Oberlin sent 10 batters to the plate while scoring four runs without the benefit of a hit aided by seven walks. Keathley, Johnson and Alivia Simmons all drew bases-loaded walks. North Coast Wireless added a run in the fifth and then added five in the top of the sixth as they drew six more walks with the big hit in the inning coming from Eliza Reese to take a 13-9 lead. Buckeye drew closer in the bottom half of the inning as Keathley came back to the mound with a chip on her shoulder. Though Ava Meininger walked and Lilly Teconchuk reached on and error and both came home on a Rosie Dobransky infield single, a pair of strikeouts limited the damage. North Coast Wireless picked up an insurance run as Simmons walked and came home on a groundout, but Oberlin couldn't do any more damage as Dobransky got a strikeout to end the inning. With the game on the line, Johnson returned to the circle for Oberlin. She walked the first batter but then got the next three looking, giving her 12 strikeouts in four innings. "I was really nervous in that seventh inning," Johnson said. "I just kept telling myself that nobody hits and nobody scores. They (Buckeye) really got up by a lot early, but we had to find a way to come back." Keystone Enviroland 14, Keystone Only Prettier 13 Keystone was guaranteed a spot in the state Class H final four and Enviroland grabbed it, improving to 14-4 and advancing to play Saturday against the winner of Thursday's Buckeye vs. Wellington Lightning game on Saturday at 3 p.m. The top of the order for the Only Prettier (9-9) team did its job as leadoff hitter Adalyn Schmitt had a pair of hits and a walk, scoring all three times, while Breanna Spears had a pair of hits in scoring her two runs. Haylie Hill and Aubrey Crawling also scored a pair of runs for the Only Prettier team in the loss. Enviroland took control of the game in the third and fourth innings, scoring the maximum five runs to take a lead that it would not lose, but Only Prettier stayed close. Sophia Rose, Geneviene Hagerman, Cecilia Gibson and Stephanie Frawley all reached to start the third and scored. After a strikeout, Maddie Hodkey walked and came around for the fifth run. In the fifth, Mallory Gibson, Peyton Currie, Giabella Hagerman, Sophia Rose and Geneviene Hagerman all reached and all five batters came around as the game was tied at 12. Enviroland went up for good in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs off Only Prettier walks. Schmitt reached to start the inning and scored, and it looked like the game could go extra innings but Enviroland got the final out at home. Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.