High school softball: North Ridgeville goes late into the night to down South Range, the top-ranked team in Division III, at the Prebis Memorial Classic

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — A pair of Kaseys delivered the knockout punch for North Ridgeville in extra innings. Kasey Timko put the Rangers ahead with an RBI double and Kasey Melvin capped a 6-for-6 day at the plate by driving in the third run of the 10th inning as the Rangers upset South Range, the top-ranked team in Division III, 14-11 at the Prebis Memorial Classic at Victory Sports Park late Friday night. "This was huge," said Timko, who finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, two runs and three RBIs. "Our team has come so far and I believe our chemistry is the thing that's bringing us together. Us stringing hits together and actually being able to play as a team. We just keep getting good hits, it's huge for us. This is one of the best accomplishments we've made this season." North Ridgeville (9-4) had to shake off its first game of the Prebis, a 15-5 loss to Perry in five innings, by getting its bats going early. The Rangers took an 8-3 lead thanks to a two-run shot from Naomi Bottomlee in the first. The Rangers scored six runs in the second with Kailee Pasenow starting off the inning with a two-run home run. A South Range error allowed four unearned runs to score. In the circle, the Rangers turned to Kaylee Raible — who was making her first varsity start of the season, serving as the team's junior varsity pitcher — and she delivered five solid innings. "Kaylee did a great job," North Ridgeville coach Amy McMillan said. "We pulled her up for this tournament to give Naomi a little bit of rest and Kaylee did exactly what we asked of her. She did a great job." South Range (15-2) did not go down quietly, turning to pinch hitter Kiera Winner in the fourth. The sophomore delivered a bomb over the right field fence that cut North Ridgeville's lead to 9-6. Ashley Rupert also came in to stop the bleeding in the second, then held the Rangers to just three runs over the next seven innings. That allowed the Raiders to rally, scoring eight runs over the final four innings of regulation, including an unearned run in the seventh that forced extra innings. Bottomlee relieved Raible in the sixth, striking out the side, but allowing both inherited runners to score, cutting the deficit to 11-10. An error in the seventh tied the game and placed the winning run on third with just one out, but Bottomlee got out of the jam. "It was a little bit longer than I expected," Bottomlee said. "But it's my job to have my team's back and put the team away. I just took it one batter at a time. Mistakes happen, but I can't let that affect me for the rest of the game." After two scoreless extra innings, North Ridgeville's Bella Kucirek led off the 10th with a single up the middle. That set up Timko's RBI double to left followed by two more shots up the middle to score a pair of insurance runs. Bottomlee only needed the one though. She retired the side in order to close out the win, finishing with nine strikeouts over the final five innings. "I was seeing the ball well and knew where my runners were," said Melvin, who had a triple, a run and two RBIs to go with her perfect day at the plate. "I took the pitches where they were pitched, going opposite field and moving those runners today. This is so great for us considering that something was going to happen because we lost our pitcher from last year. It's nice to come together and show we can beat these big teams." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.