Softball: North Ridgeville caps undefeated Prebis with comeback win over Rocky River

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Sooner or later one of North Ridgeville's rallies was bound to stick. The Rangers had to come back twice against Rocky River, at one point down to their last out, but managed to pull off a 9-8 win in nine innings during the second day of the Prebis Memorial Classic at Victory Park on Saturday. North Ridgeville (7-6) went undefeated at the Prebis, also winning 9-6 against Strongsville (6-9) on Friday night. "It's just keeping that mental toughness and overcoming the adversity," North Ridgeville coach Amy McMillan said. "They stuck together and finished it. You try to put it all together. Sometimes one outweighs the other, sometimes the bats come through for you and that's what paid off for us today." Brynnley Cole helped the Rangers to a 3-0 lead with a two-run homer in the team's second at-bat. She had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a walk, double, homer, three runs and two RBIs. In the circle, Cole shook off a slow start and dialed in when the team needed her the most. She allowed eight runs — though four were unearned thanks to four errors — 13 hits and five walks while striking out 11. Cole retired the first five batters she faced in extra innings, striking out two in the eighth while also snagging a scorching liner out of the air like she was playing catch with her battery-mate. Her streak ended in the ninth with a two-out hit followed by a walk, but she got out of the jam with a strikeout. "After we tied everything up our energy got up and having my team behind my back helped," Cole said. "I was very serious. It was very important that I started to lock in. It started off rough. We didn't get all the calls we wanted, but I think throughout the game we calmed down and just let us do our game." Rocky River (10-6) responded with four runs in the second, but the Rangers took a 6-3 lead in the third with three of their own. Cole got the rally started with a leadoff double and Paige Piccolomini capped it with a solo homer. The Pirates again responded with four unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, taking an 8-6 lead. Piccolomini strung together a great at-bat to draw a walk with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, but the Rangers couldn't add to their lead. North Ridgeville was down to its last out after Rocky River retired the first two batters in the seventh, but Emily Ramos — who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts heading into the at-bat — delivered a clutch double to deep center. Maddie Chinchar tied the game when her routine grounder was misplayed, allowing Ramos to score. Chinchar walked it off in the ninth with a grounder into left field, driving in Eva Wingeier, who led off the inning with a double and was sacrificed over on the next at-bat. "I was alive this week," Chinchar said. "My bat was working and I just trusted myself. I kept saying to myself 'I trust you Maddie, you can do this,' and it worked out in my favor this at-bat. We had some tough losses this week, so coming into Prebis we knew we had to bring it and get back on our winning streak." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.