Strasburg softball overcomes scare to advance to OHSAA state tournament semifinal

PICKERINGTON — Trailing by three with nine outs left in its regional championship softball game Friday, Strasburg dug deep and unleashed its “inner Tiger” — just like a two-time defending state champion would.

The Tigers manufactured six runs in those last nine at-bats, including three in the deciding seventh inning, to oust Portsmouth Notre Dame 6-3 in a D4 regional title game at Pickerington Central High School.

“It was one of those things where we kept telling them, it’s a seven-inning game, it doesn’t matter if we get up early or down early, it’s seven innings and we’ve got to continue to play,” Strasburg coach Tom Spidell said. “(Assistant coach) Brock (Lauvray) came out and said after the fourth inning, ‘We’ve got nine outs left and make it the nine toughest outs they (the Titans) have ever had.’ And it was.”

The triumph vaults the Tigers (28-3) into next week’s state tournament where they will meet Minster in a D4 state semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday at Firestone Stadium in Akron. Minster won a regional crown Friday with a 5-3 win over Tri-Village.

Strasburg will be making its 19th trip to the state softball tournament in school history. The Tigers will be looking to capture a third straight state crown and 10th overall. Should that happen, they would become the winningest softball program in terms of state championships in OHSAA history. They are currently tied with Akron Springfield and Warren Champion with nine.

Strasburg, which had outscored its previous six tournament foes 48-0, found itself trailing 2-0 after the third inning and 3-0 after four when Titan Gwen Sparks hit a home run over the left field fence.

But Strasburg, which coaxed nine walks out of the Titans in the game, never flinched.

“We’ve kind of done that all year and really worked on people,” Spidell said. “They’ve been patient all year and worked counts and tried to get deep on pitchers and make them throw a lot of pitches, knowing that later in the game, it’s going to pay off.”

The Tigers batted around in the top of the fifth inning while cutting the deficit to 3-1 on a single between shortstop and third base by Amelia Spidell. Cleanup batter Ella Gilkerson then stepped to the dish with two outs and runners at second and third and laced a clutch two RBI single into center, tying the game.

“That at-bat, I was on deck and I was like, 'Dude, Olivia (Spidell) is going to get walked and I’m going to go in with everyone on base and I’ve got to do my job,'” Gilkerson said. “After I got two strikes, I’m like, 'OK, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do, I’ve got to let loose.'”

The game remained tied until the top of the seventh when the Tigers scored three runs. It all started when Rylee Becker had a slap single down the third base line. Olivia Spidell followed with a single to left, putting runners at second and third after Spidell moved up.

At that point, Portsmouth Notre Dame made a pitching change and Strasburg responded by drawing four walks against two different relief pitchers. It quickly turned the 3-3 deadlock into a 6-3 Tiger lead.

Becker, who was on third base, scored what turned out to be the winning fourth run on one of the bases-loaded walks.

“I was really excited and once I got on base I knew there were a bunch of big hitters behind me,” Becker said. “I knew (coming back) was going to happen. That’s just what we do. We don’t get down on ourselves and we usually find a way. We’ve been doing it for two years in a row and now a third. It was kind of anti-climatic with a walk, but it was still so crazy.”

Strasburg’s All-Ohio pitcher Amelia Spidell, who tossed a complete-game four-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk, then sealed the deal in the bottom of the seventh, getting the final two Titan batters to fly out.

“We don’t have many games where we’re down, we don’t have many games where that many balls are put in play, but we talked to each other and we knew what we were going to do at the end,” Amelia Spidell said. “I had trust in all of them.”

“Amelia, she’s been through it all,” Tom Spidell said of his talented daughter, who is committed to Ohio Dominican for softball. “I could tell she was still a little nervous but she got stronger (as the game progressed) and she did great.”

The Tigers, who outhit the Titans 7-3, were led offensively by Becker (two singles), Amelia Spidell (RBI single), Gilkerson (two RBI single) and Olivia Spidell, Keagyn Kramer and Addy Sibila, all with singles.

“That’s the nice part is a lot of our young girls are stepping up,” Tom Spidell said. “Keagan (Kramer) had a bunt and she got a hit, all of them, just up and down.”

“We knew we could come back, we just had to get our bats going and we did,” Gilkerson said. “We support each other. We’re a family.”

Leading the Titans at the plate were Maddie Entler (single and two RBIs), Sparks with a home run and Lyndsay Schaefer and Maycee Ford with singles.

Sparks absorbed the pitching loss for Portsmouth Notre Dame. She struck out 10 and walked five in her six innings of work.

The Titans concluded their season with a 23-5 record.

Interestingly, Strasburg also defeated Portsmouth Notre Dame in last year’s regional title contest by an 8-4 final.

Turning to this week’s state tournament and all of the potential records that are out there for Strasburg, Gilkerson and Amelia Spidell are confident the Tigers will be ready.

“We just have to play our game, don’t play up, don’t play down, play our game,” Gilkerson said. “Don’t try to do too much, just play our game.”

“It (Ohio’s all-time state title record) is just in reach,” Amelia Spidell said. “It’s closer and we can feel it on our fingertips, and I know that we’re going to get our 10th state championship next week.”

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Strasburg softball receives scare, but advances to state semifinal