BOWLING GREEN – It took a fifth-inning rally, but No. 2 seed Anthony Wayne survived an upset bid from No. 7 seed Whitmer in a 6-5 thriller in a Division I district softball final at Bowling Green's Meserve Field on Friday.

In the third meeting this season between the teams, with the first two ending in mercy-rule wins for Anthony Wayne, Whitmer shocked the Generals by taking a 5-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Anthony Wayne's Kat Meyers came up with a clutch 2-RBI double, and Teya Marshall followed with an RBI single as the Generals took command again and Meyers, the team's dominant closer, shut down the Panthers over the final two innings on the mound.

“We've had three tough losses in our season and we talked about having grit and battling back and not giving up,” Anthony Wayne coach Ron Myers said. “Today Kat Meyers came in and she closed things out for us. She got it done in the circle, and she got in the box. We had a key hit by Teya Marshall also and just had an overall performance of the players backing each other up and getting things done when we were behind.”

Anthony Wayne scored three runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Brooklyn Patchen and a 2-RBI triple from Ally Meyers.

But those were the only two hits the Generals had until the fifth inning in a valiant pitching effort from Whitmer senior Raegan Mitchell, who was injured when she was hit by a line drive on the mound in a district semifinal game against Clay on Tuesday.

“It was pretty amazing that she was even able to throw today after getting hit on the mound against Clay and heal up and pitch the way that she did,” Whitmer coach Cassi Waggoner said. “She worked her corners and got the job done today.”

Whitmer scored a run in the top of the second on an error by Anthony Wayne shortstop Abby Kennelly. The big damage by the Panthers was done in the fourth on a bases-clearing triple from freshman Ryleigh Hannibal. At that point, Anthony Wayne starting pitcher Patchen exited the game and gave way to Meyers.

Olivia Munoz added a run in the fifth with an RBI double off of Meyers that gave Whitmer its 5-3 lead.

Two walks set up the two-out, two-RBI double from Meyers in the bottom of the fifth and the game-winning run provided by Marshall's single.

“We know how well we can play when we are under pressure,” Meyers said. “We just always talk about every practice and every game having grit and take it one inning and one batter at a time and it just worked out for us. It was one pitch at a time when I was up to bat. She's a very good pitcher with very good spin, so I just knew I had to do something small and try not to kill it and just get a run or two in.”

In the top of the seventh, Whitmer advanced a runner to second base with one out after a walk and a fielder's choice, but Meyers locked in and struck out the final two batters of the game.

“On the mound, it's just one pitch at a time and me throwing to [catcher Trinity Nowicki] just like any other bullpen and just kind of zoning in on that one batter at a time,” Meyers said. 

Whitmer had eight hits in the game compared to just four for Anthony Wayne.

“I think the girls came out and their bats were on fire,” Waggoner said. “They knew that even though they had been beaten by Anthony Wayne two times this season, they knew that every team is beatable and it's hard to beat a team three times. So they came out with an open mind and hit the ball and played their hearts out.”

Anthony Wayne advances to a Division I regional semifinal against North Ridgeville. Myers said a game like this with some adversity and some perseverance shown by his team will only help them moving forward in the state tournament, but they also shouldn’t take winning a district title for granted.

“It's a definite bonus going into next week with playing North Ridgeville because that game is going to be a battle for us and we needed to have practiced that and we've done that now...A district championship is really something special and it marks a good season and I told them I'm really proud of them.”

First Published May 20, 2023, 1:27 a.m.