Oberlin rallies by Amherst for Hot Stove softball win

LORAIN — Oberlin's pitchers came up big when it needed them the most. Gia Fate and Trinity Gallam combined to blank Amherst in the sixth and seventh innings as Oberlin rallied from five runs down to force extras and defeat the Legends 17-16 in the Hot Stove softball Class A regional semifinals at Campana Park in Lorain on Tuesday evening. The North Stars will face either Amherst or Lorain in the regional championship on Monday at 6:15 p.m. The winner will advance to the state semifinals. Fate pitched four strong innings for Oberlin, allowing six runs — five of them consolidated to one inning. She pitched two shutout innings, including the sixth when the North Stars were trailing by four and couldn't afford to let Amherst add to its lead. She struck out the side for her 10th strikeout. "We saved Gia for our sixth," Oberlin coach Anthony Gallam said. "We knew she was going to be our closer. She came in, she did what she needed to do and that was really important." Trinity Gallam allowed five runs in the second without recording an out as Amherst took a 5-0 lead. Her coach, and father, said she was eager to get back into the circle for another opportunity. She got it in the seventh, having to pitch while Amherst was gifted a ghost runner on second base, but didn't allow the Legends to score. She walked one batter and struck out the side. "I'm very proud of my pitchers," Anthony Gallam said. "I don't know how Trinity did it. I know she was not happy with herself after that second inning. But we tell the pitchers, the fielders and the batters the same thing. If you have a bad at-bat, forget about it, you're going to hit again. Same thing with the pitchers. If you have a bad inning, you're going to get another inning to throw again. She stepped up to the plate and got us those three outs to keep them off the board." Amherst's Kayden Hougland pitched 3 2/3 solid innings for the Legends. She opened the game with a shutout inning and ultimately allowed six runs on two hits with six walks and six strikeouts. She was called back in to help Amherst get out of a jam in the sixth. With the winning run on third base, Hougland struck out the next two batters to force extra innings. "Kayden is phenomenal," Amherst co-coach Rebecca Sullivan said. "She's always got her head in the game. She's been our go-to pitcher for quite awhile. I've coached her since she was a rookie and she's always been my go-to." Offensively, Oberlin was led by Gallam, Kathy Piotrowski and Quinn Owsley, who each had a double and combined for four of the team's seven hits and eight of the team's 17 runs. The North Stars trailed 6-4 in the third before scoring five runs to take their first lead. Amherst regained the lead at 16-11 after the fifth, but Oberlin scored five unanswered in the next two innings to force extras. Sophia Stevenson delivered a leadoff hit in the seventh, moving the ghost runner (Owsley) to third. She'd score on a wild pitch. "We've improved so much this season," Sullivan said. "They are one of the hardest working bunches I've ever seen. The changes they've made this season have been phenomenal. They continue to improve, continue to get better. Today wasn't the outcome we wanted, but it was fun to the very end." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.