Regional softball: North Ridgeville battles to the end but falls 3-2 to Perrysburg

CLYDE — North Ridgeville came awfully close to advancing to the Division I regional final Wednesday afternoon at Joe Wilson Field at Clyde High School. But close didn't quite cut it against battle-tested Perrysburg, the eighth-ranked team in the state. The Yellow Jackets found a way to push across the winning run in the top of the seventh to win 3-2, ending the Rangers' eight-game winning streak and its fourth straight regional appearance in the process. The Rangers made it to the regional tournament five times but have never made it to the state tournament. Perrysburg will play its Northern Lakes League rival and third-ranked Whitehouse Anthony Wayne (29-1) on Friday with a trip to Akron on the line. The Yellow Jackets (26-4) have lost twice to Anthony Wayne this year. North Ridgeville (17-6) had its opportunities. It surprised the Yellow Jackets with a run in the bottom of the first on a perfectly executed double steal by Naomi Bottomlee and Molly Walton and came back to tie the game at 2 with a two-out RBI single from Kasey Melvin in the bottom of the third. "Any of these games are going to be close," Rangers coach Amy McMillan said. "It's going to come down to that. We wanted to get the jump on them early and continue to pile on. We play seven innings for a reason and we hung with them for seven innings. "We had opportunities, they had opportunities. I think it was a solid game all around." The Rangers, however, couldn't get the key hit with Maddie Chinchar standing at third base in the fourth inning, then saw a golden scoring chance in the bottom of the sixth come up empty on some well-executed defense by the Yellow Jackets, particularly Florida State-bound shortstop Hayley Griggs. Griggs made the signature play of the day when she dove to her left to snag Bela Kucirek's bullet grounder up the middle with two runners on and alertly tagged second base with her glove to force Brennan Dillon for the final out of the inning. "She's just a phenomenal athlete," Perrysburg coach Ryan DeMars said of Griggs. "Very heads-up. It's one of the reasons she was recruited and is committed to Florida State. She has a great softball IQ." That play came just after the Rangers had runners on second and third with only one out when Dillon bounced one to third baseman Ky Thomas, who made a perfect throw home to get a sliding Gabby Thibodeaux trying to score. In the seventh, Perrysburg's speedy Yesenia You beat out a bunt right in front of the plate to set up the winning score. It was her second bunt single of the day — both leading to runs. Bottomlee retired the next two hitters but You advanced to second on a ground out to third and scored on Ky Thomas' single up the middle. You stole second after her first bunt single in the third inning and came around to score on Maison Gerrard's double to deep right. Gerrard then scored on a hit by Jess Miller to put Perrysburg up 2-1. "Yesenia is the catalyst for our offense," said DeMars, in his 15th year as Perrysburg's coach. "Obviously she has tremendous speed and put the ball in play to make it really difficult for the defense. She was able to get herself on base and we've got people coming up behind her to drive her in." North Ridgeville had 10 hits but left eight runners on base. Walton singled with one out in the bottom of the first and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bottomlee stroked a line-drive single to left but Walton had to hold up at third. Bottomlee drew a throw to second on a stolen base, allowing Walton to alertly steal home. "I thought it was a very competitive game overall," said Bottomlee, a junior already committed to Youngstown State. "Our team pushed through every inning. Some of the plays were out of our hands. I just thought we played great." After Perrysburg's two-run third, Kasey Timko and Walton singled with one out and Melvin blooped a single to center to score Timko with the tying run. "We fought the whole game," Timko said. "We never gave up. They're a strong team but I felt the game was a little iffy at the end." That turned out to be the final Rangers run although Walton singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh but neither Bottomlee nor Melvin could get her in. "Timko had a great game, she had a great season," McMillan said of her only senior on the roster. "I'm proud. A lot of people have not really given us the benefit of the doubt. They counted us out. The girls took the conference. They had to go back-to-back against Amherst (to win the SWC). They took care of it." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.