AKRON – They were counting outs. And soon they were counting another state championship.
Crestview built a 3-0 lead by the third inning, then held off Strasburg-Franklin 3-2 to win the Division IV softball state championship on Saturday at Firestone Stadium.
The state title was the third in school history for the Knights, who were making their eleventh trip to the state tournament. And it came against another traditional power in Strasburg-Franklin, the winner of seven state championships.
Getting the early lead was huge, Crestview coach Carl Etzler said. “To play in a state championship and come out and get the lead, hopefully it settled our nerves a little bit. To get out early, that’s huge.”
Getting out of a tense situation when Strasburg-Franklin (25-7) had the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the seventh inning was equally huge.
With runners on second and third base, Crestview got the final out on a long fly ball off the bat of the Tigers’ No. 3 hitter, Taeshawna Alleshouse, to center fielder Sydney Bowen and the celebration began.
“As a coach, and probably as players too, you’re counting the outs you have to get. At the end of the game it seemed like there was a lot of pressure on us to keep from losing the game. But I thought our kids also put a lot of pressure on them,” Etzler said.
The pressure Crestview applied began in the top of the first inning when leadoff hitter Cora Millay walked, stole second base and scored on Brady Guest’s single to left field.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning when Millay doubled, Tianna Rager’s sacrifice bunt attempt turned into an infield single and Guest singled to right field to score both runners.
Strasburg-Franklin cut the lead to 3-1 in the third inning on a run-scoring single by No. 9 hitter Jordan McNiff.
In the seventh inning, Strasburg-Franklin’s first batter, Hannah Keffer, was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count and Reifenschneider followed with a single.
After a force out at third base for the first out, Emily Rieger singled to reduce the lead to 3-2. And when she took second base on the throw in from the outfield, Strasburg-Franklin had two runners in scoring position.
But Crestview pitcher Jada Preston struck out the next hitter, Morgan Crites, and retired Alleshouse for the final out.
“That was the most pressure I ever felt in a game,” Preston said. “There were a few times where I had to squat down and pray a little bit, look up and pray a little bit. They were hitting the ball and they were hitting it hard.
“It was very nerve racking. I just had to trust my defense behind me and I had to hit my spots and I just had to do what I had to do to get it done,” she said.
Preston’s first thought when the ball left Alleshouse’s bat was that it was going over the centerfield fence. But Bowen hardly had to move to make the play.
“I felt like it was kind of slow motion coming me. It was just that routine catch I’ve been taught to catch all season,” Bowen said.
Preston allowed 10 hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter. Strasburg-Franklin’s Hannah Duff allowed nine hits, struck out eight and walked two.
Strasburg-Franklin coach Bud Weisgarber said, “It wasn’t meant to be. We just couldn’t get the timely hit. In the first couple innings we didn’t keep our composure very well. It wasn’t errors, but it was mental mistakes and us not getting where we were supposed to be.”
Crestview (26-4) brought the entire team and the state champion’s trophy to its postgame press conference and emphasized the idea of teamwork when it talked about its win.
“It seriously is a team effort,” Millay said. “If you have one player who has a great game and nobody else does, you’re in trouble.”
Guest, who drove in three runs in both games in the state tournament, said, “Like I said on Thursday, if it wasn’t for the girls getting on, my hit would have meant nothing.”
Crestview’s 11 trips to the state tournament have come with four different head coaches.
This was Etzler’s first win as head coach but the second for one of his daughters. Kristen Etzler was this year’s starting first baseman and Alisha Etzler was an All-Ohio player on the 2005 Crestview state champion team.
“That’s a blessing. It’s a dream come true to coach down here at the state level. I said when we won it in 2005, to be able to grab Alisha coming off the field, that was the best feeling in the world. It just got matched today. It’s special,” Etzler said.
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