AKRON — Never worried. Never flustered. No matter the situation, you can always expect the Louisville High School softball team to keep the same approach.
That was plenty evident during the Leopards’ 3-2 victory over Madison Comprehensive in 10 innings in a Division III state semifinal at Firestone Stadium on Friday. Louisville advances to the OHSAA Division III state championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday.
This was never more on display than when Madison speedster Izzy Wamsley drove a pitch over the head of the left fielder for a one-out triple with the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
There were no hanging heads. No one was conceding anything.
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“The key to being in high pressure situations like that is just continuing to work,” Louisville senior Anna Sirohman said. “You just continue to play your game. The worst thing you can do is played scared in that situation. You just need to hang with it and play smart.”
Louisville did just that. Pitcher Katelynn Miller got a ground out to second base and a fly out to center field to end the seventh and send the game into extra innings.
“Those are the situations where the coaches tell us that we need to slow down,” Louisville senior Addy Campbell said. “That’s the time to smell the roses and prepare yourself for the moment. You want to take your time and soak it in before you blow out the candles on the birthday cake.”
That approach certainly worked. A regular-season schedule that included six teams that reached regional championship games also prepared the Leopards for crunch time.
“I think we were ready for those moments,” Miller said. “We were in a lot of one-run games against tough competition during the regular season. We are used to those situations and we all trust each other to handle them.”
Remaining calm and escaping that inning gave Louisville a chance to advance to the state finals and the Leopards took advantage of it. Taylor Thompson helped Louisville score a run with a line drive to third base in the top of the 10th. Madison elected to try to throw home but runner Kaitlin Twinem beat the throw to score the run.
Maggie Baker drove in an important insurance run in the next at-bat with a ground ball to first base that allowed pinch runner Olivia Gulling to score from third. Gulling was running for Bailee Griffith, who Madison intentionally walked.
“We all knew that Taylor had the ability to step up when they walked Bailee and she did,” Sirohman said. “Our No. 9 hitter Maggie Baker then came through to get us another run. We all have faith in each other. Every player in the lineup is beyond capable of stepping up when we need a big play.”
Madison made things interesting in the bottom of 10th but again, Louisville buckled down. Campbell Kiser doubled to the outfield to score a run with one out but got caught leaning toward third base on the throw to the infield. The throw back to second was in time to get Kiser and record the second out. A fielding error gave the Rams a final baserunner but a ground out ended the rally and the game.
And the calm, cool and collected Leopards were on their way to the state finals.
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Calm, cool, collected Louisville softball set for state title game
Reporting by Cliff Hickman, Canton Repository / The Repository
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By Cliff Hickman, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
