District Softball: Mistakes cost Avon in loss to Brunswick

MIDDLEBURG HTS. — Avon has made a habit of excelling in the postseason, but the Eagles made too many uncharacteristic mistakes Monday to keep the momentum going this season. The 12th-seeded Eagles committed four errors in the first two innings to fall behind, then faded late in a 9-4 loss to third-seeded Brunswick in a Division I, Northeast 4 District semifinal at Berea-Midpark's Roehm Athletic Complex. It was the fifth straight appearance in the district semifinals for Avon (12-16), which came up shy of returning to the district finals for a fourth consecutive season. That run included a district championship in 2022. "It's a game of failure," junior Lauren Fischer said. "You're going to fail more than you succeed in this sport. Sometimes we've just got to cheer each other up and pick each other up. Somebody makes a play and we get out of the inning." The Blue Devils (22-5) will carry a 14-game winning streak into Wednesday's district final against second-seeded Amherst (19-7). The Comets defeated Highland 8-1 in Monday's first semifinal. The Eagles did not pick each other up fast enough or often enough early on, as Brunswick leadoff hitter Faith Vlcek reached on an error to start the home half of the first inning before scoring on a Maddy Hicks groundout to second baseman Joclyn Ochs. After Lauren Robinson tied the game at 1 in the second inning on a single that scored Grace Mangan (two runs), the Blue Devils scored two more runs on three errors and a wild pitch to go ahead 3-1. "This season definitely wasn't what we wanted it to be, but I'd still say I have a lot of memories," senior Kayley Thompson said. "I would say it was still pretty successful. We learned a lot. We played well when we needed to play well." Fischer nearly got some of the momentum back for Avon in the third inning when she lined a ball down the right-field line past a diving Sofia Veres. After reaching third, Fischer raced for home, but the throw reached catcher Ellie Williams, who was able to apply the tag for the second out. The Eagles rallied two innings later when they took advantage of three walks from Blue Devils starter Aaliyah Radwan to score three runs and tie the game at 4 in the fifth. Ochs drew a leadoff walk and scored on a wild pitch before Thompson roped a two-run single that scored Natalie Thomas and Mangan. "We've been fighting all season," Thompson said. "We knew (Brunswick) was ranked higher than us, but we knew we had the will to win today. Obviously it didn't go as planned, but we fought every second of it, that's what matters." Hicks wrecked Avon's plan with a monstrous final two innings. First she put the Blue Devils ahead 5-4 with a single that scored Elena Osowski, who led off with a single. Veres, who doubled earlier, then scored to make it 6-4 on a Giovanna Diligente groundout. In the sixth, Hicks extended the lead with a three-run home run to right that drove in Vlcek and Osowski for the final runs. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.