LEXINGTON — It may have taken two days to decide the Division III Lexington District champion but on Saturday May 20, the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles decidedly defeated the Galion Lady Tigers by a final score of 10-1.
“It’s an honor to bring home our program’s 15th district title,” says the Eagles head coach Chuck Huggins. Huggins has been at the helm for all 15 of those titles. Huggins continues, “our girls have played at the top of their games all season and it’s a great reward for them and our fans, that are second to none.”
Action originally began on Friday with Galion as the visitors and first up to the plate. Gabby Kaple started things off with a groundout to Crawford’s Alexus Burkhart at shortstop. Dusty Thomas delivered a single for the game’s first hit and would go on to score a run on a wild pitch. Nevaeh Clark (BB) and Emily Sedmak (1B) would both reach base for the Tigers but would be stranded as the Eagles’ ace Sydney Studer struck out Madelyn Thomas and Kate Schieber.
Crawford would begin their scoring with two out in the bottom of the first. After flyouts by Burkhart and Karissa Rowlinson, Studer would walk and would advance on a Lydia Strouse single. Abbie Bradshaw would bring both Studer and Strouse home on a single. Two batters later, Bradshaw would be thrown out attempting to steal third.
Trailing by a score of 2-1, Galion sent Jaime Ehrman to bat. Ehrman delivered a single but Dani Schieber could not get her into scoring position as she struck out looking. Nicole Thomas reached first on a fielder’s choice as Ehrman was thrown out at second. Thomas would steal second but would be left there as Kaple grounded out to Studer to end the inning.
Crawford would add another run in the bottom of the second when Kerri Reynolds scored on a two-out double from lead off hitter Burkhart. Burkhart would be stranded at second after Rowlinson flied out to the Sedmak in foul territory.
Dusty Thomas grounded out to Strouse at first, bringing up Clark with one down in the top of the third. Clark ran the count to 2-2 before play was suspended. After a 30-minute delay, the game was to remain postponed until 11 am on Saturday.
Clark and Madelyn Thomas would groundout in the top of the third while Sedmak singled in between the two Tigers’ hitters.
The delay did not appear to stop the Eagles’ drive for another district title. Studer lead off the inning with a single and was followed by a single from Strouse. Bradshaw advanced the runners with a fielder’s choice to Clark at short. Caitlin Koschnick and Karlie Kurtzman would also belt singles off of Madelyn Thomas. Studer, Strouse and Koschnick all crossed home plate in the third to stretch the Colonel Crawford lead to 6-1.
Galion’s offense would manage just four more hits in the fourth through seventh innings off of Studer. In that time, Ehrman, Dusty Thomas, Madelyn Thomas and Kaple would all have singles. The Lady Tigers stranded three runners in the final four innings of the game.
Colonel Crawford kept the offensive onslaught alive with one run in the fourth and three in the fifth. Rowlinson was hit by a pitch and would later score on a wild pitch from Thomas. Studer and Bradshaw would record singles in the fourth but would remain on the base path. In the fifth, Kurtzman and Reynolds knocked back-to-back singles to begin the rally. A sacrifice bunt from Abbi Teglovic advanced the runners to second and third. Burkhart would plate Kurtzman on a single and Rowlinson knocked in Reynolds on another single. Crawford would be held scoreless in the sixth inning by the Galion defense. That would be the only such occurrence for the contest.
Studer would pick up the win for the Eagles, going the entire seven innings while allowing just the one run and eight hits. Studer struck out five Tigers’ hitters and walked just one. Madelyn Thomas suffered the loss for Galion, pitching six innings, allowing 14 hits and 10 runs while walking three.
Colonel Crawford: Burkhart- 1B, 2B, 2 RBI, R; Rowlinson- 1B, R, RBI; Studer- 2-1B, 2R; Strouse- 2-1B, 2R; Bradshaw- 3-1B, 2 RBI; Koschnick- 1B, R; Kurtzman- 2-1B, R; Reynolds- 1B, 2R.
Galion: Kaple- 1B; Dusty Thomas- 2-1B, R; Sedmak- 2-1B; Madelyn Thomas- 1B; Ehrman- 2-1B.
The season has now concluded for the Galion Lady Tigers. Galion finishes with a 17-11 record.
“I am incredibly proud of this team,” says Galion head coach Doug Hunt. “We started the season wanting to surprise some people and I think that we accomplished that. We are a young team and although we will miss our seniors, we will be back next season poised to make another run,” concludes Hunt.
As for the Lady Eagles, they await the winner of the Maumee District championship game between Eastwood and Archbold. Colonel Crawford will travel to Findlay High School on Wednesday May 24 to compete in the regional semi-final game at 2 pm. The Eagles are making this regional run with hopes of recording their eighth regional title.
