Hot Stove Softball: Fast start carries Midview to Class B title

SPENCER TWP. — Midview's early lead proved to be enough against Keystone. Midview scored seven runs in the first two innings and was able to hold off a late charge by Keystone for a 13-6 win in the Hot Stove softball Class B (ages 11-12) championship at J.B. Firestone Memorial Park on Monday evening. "It's awesome," Midview coach Don Rozanski said. "They fought hard and worked hard. It got a little squirrely in the middle there, but they came back strong in the end." Midview put together six hits and three walks in the first two innings. Riley Riley led off with a walk and Ryah Martin drove her in with her first of two triples on the evening. Lydia Chesser followed that with a double that scored Martin for a 2-0 lead. Keystone helped out Midview with two errors in the second, which led to a trio of unearned runs in extending the lead to 7-0. Riley walked once again and Chesser drove in another. The pair were the catalyst for the Midview offense all evening as Riley got on base four times — three walks and a hit — with three runs, an RBI and four steals. Chesser finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs and three steals. "She came in big today," Rozanski said of Chesser. "She's been hitting the ball well all year. She came on, jumped right back on it and gave us the momentum and run support we needed when we needed it." Midview also got a great outing from Martin, who went the distance allowing three earned runs on two hits and six walks with 15 strikeouts. Her counterpart on Keystone, Farrah Roberts, also pitched well. She allowed eight earned runs on 14 hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts. Keystone committed six errors to Midview's three. "It feels great," Martin said. "I was happy with the start, but then I started getting mad. I realized how important this was to everybody and when my attitude changes, the whole team's attitude changes. So I had to get it together so we could win. I just had to think about the happy things in life and realize it's just a game." Midview built a 10-2 lead going into the fourth, when Keystone added four runs. Kenedy Durante, Riley Rodgers and Hannah Brotherton all reached safely on back-to-back walks and an error. Martin retired the next two, but a hit batter and a walk kept the inning alive, leading to three unearned runs. Midview responded with two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh to give itself some breathing room. Leah Price — who subbed into the last spot in the order — went 2-for-3 down the stretch, scoring twice and driving in a run in the third. She started off the fifth with a leadoff single. Keystone led off the fifth with a walk, but Martin retired the final nine batters with four strikeouts. "We had a great season," Keystone coach Kristen Kastler said. "The girls should definitely be proud of themselves. We told them going into it that we made it this far, you should be proud of yourselves, go in and play hard. We had a couple of rough calls that didn't go our way, but that happens. The girls came out and tried their best." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.