Amherst holds off North Ridgeville in big SWC softball game

AMHERST — A matchup between the teams that shared the Southwestern Conference championship the last two seasons was expected to be a great one and Amherst and North Ridgeville didn't disappoint. The Rangers took the early lead by scoring in each of the first three innings, the Comets used an offensive explosion in the third to pull ahead and then held off a seventh-inning rally to come away with a 6-5 victory Thursday night in the SWC opener for both teams. "I think we did a great job of limiting damage in those early innings," Comets coach Lacey Reichert said. "That was the goal today … limit damage. And when (Autumn) Behlke came up, hwe had to have only one or nobody on base. You have to get hitters out ahead of her because when she comes up, she's a game-changer." Behlke proved that point with a no-doubt solo blast over the left-field fence in the first inning to give the Rangers a quick 1-0 lead. North Ridgeville made it 2-0 in the second on doubles by Kasey Melvin and Molly Walton, then went up 3-0 in the third Allie Chinchar doubled in Naomi Bottomlee. "I knew I had to keep everything in check," Amherst senior pitcher Sierra Dorobek said. "I had to keep my emotions in check, because we all knew going in that this was going to be a pretty emotional game for all of us. But we all banded together (after the early deficit) and said, 'We're going to keep going.'" Amherst exploded for five runs in the third inning — Allie Jackson and Emma Nagy had doubles, while Nevaeh Sadler, Makenna Dorobek and Leah Sprague all had singles — and added another run in the fourth on a Rangers error to go up 6-3. "That inning killed us and we beat ourselves," Rangers coach Amy McMillan said. "Not to take anything away from them, but we just beat ourselves there. Unfortunately, being a young team, you're going to have that in the first game and a big conference game." Dorobek continued to escape major damage, spreading hits evenly among innings and making the big pitches when needed. The Comets also suffered graduation losses and Dorobek was one of four seniors on the roster that tried to help the new varsity players prepare for the big moments they faced Thursday against the Rangers. "We're like the veterans and we've been through a lot," she said. "So we know what it's like when you're playing with pressure and we've been coaching the younger girls, telling them to keep everything in check. Do your part, stay within yourself and play for your teammates, play for each other. "We're going to be in stressful situations. We know we have a tough conference. But we all know that if we rely on each other that we can do it as a team." The Comets needed the sage advice in the final inning as the Rangers mounted a comeback. Bottomlee drew a one-out walk and Behlke hit another colossal home run in the same spot as the first one to pull the Rangers within a run. "She's an All-Ohio pitcher and a tough hitter," Dorobek said of Behlke. "She's a tough out and all props to her … she's an amazing softball player. But I just knew I had to stay within myself, pitch my game and don't worry about who's at the plate." Chinchar drew a walk and Melvin singled to center field before Dorobek finally got Gabby Thibodeaux to fly out to center field to end the game. "We told the girls that there's not many people that believe in you guys, so you're going to have to believe in each other," Reichert said. "We told them our expectations are not going to change. We have a tradition here of winning and competing hard every time we step out on this field. Our kids have been ready to go and they've withheld the tradition, and hopefully we can keep the momentum going as long as possible." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter. Amherst 6, North Ridgeville 5 N. Ridgeville ab r &emsp;&emsp;h &emsp;&emsp;bi&emsp;&emsp;Amherst &emsp;&emsp;ab r &emsp;&emsp;h &emsp;&emsp;bi Bottomlee 3 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Sadler 4 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 Timko 4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Jackson &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;0 Behlke 4 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;Stottlemire 3 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 Chinchar &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;Kelley 2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 Melvin 4 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;M. Dorobek 3 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 Hoch 0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;S. Dorobek 2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Thibodeaux 4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Balek 0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Walton &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;Sprague &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 Dillon 2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Nagy 3 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;2 Sewell 2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Thomas-Friend &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Kucirek &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Bertke 1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Totals 29 5 &emsp;&emsp;10 5 &emsp;&emsp;Totals 26 6 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;5 N. Ridgeville 111 000 2 &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;5 &emsp;&emsp;10 3 Amherst &emsp;&emsp;005 100 x &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;0 2B — Jackson 2, Melvin, Walton, Chinchar, Nagy, Behlke. HR — Behlke 2. SAC — Dillon. SB — Kelley. LOB — North Ridgeville 7, Amherst 5. &emsp;&emsp;IP H&emsp;&emsp;R&emsp;&emsp;ER BB SO North Ridgeville Behlke (L, 0-1) &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;7 Amherst S. Dorobek (W, 2-0) 7 &emsp;&emsp;10 5 &emsp;&emsp;5 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;3 WP — Behlke 2. PB — Thibodeaux.