CLYDE, Ohio — In the trilogy within a trilogy that is the Anthony Wayne-Springfield softball rivalry, the latest classic duel went to AW's third-ranked Generals, who took a 7-3 victory over the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Blue Devils in Friday's Division I regional championship game at Clyde High School.
The win sends Anthony Wayne (27-3) to its second D-I state semifinal in three years, and denied Northern Lakes League champion Springfield (28-1) a repeat trip to the final four. The Devils entered ranked No. 4 in the USA Today national poll, with AW at No. 22.
The Generals will face second-ranked Pataskala Watkins Memorial (28-1) in a D-I state semifinal at Akron Firestone Stadium on Friday at 10 a.m.
AW lost 11-5 to Watkins Memorial in the 2021 state semis, and Springfield beat the Warriors 4-2 in last year's state semis before falling to West Chester Lakota West 9-2 in the D-I final.
As far the trilogy theme, Springfield won both NLL meetings with AW in 2021 before the Generals topped the Blue Devils 4-3 in the regional semis and advanced to state. Last year, top-ranked NLL champion Anthony Wayne (ranked No. 4 nationally) beat Springfield twice in league play before falling to the Devils 5-4 in the regional semis.
Earlier this season in league play, NLL champion Springfield rallied from a 4-0 deficit to top AW 5-4 in the first league contest, then trailed 3-0 in the next NLL meeting before winning 4-3.
“We were really focused on not giving up the big inning,” AW coach Ron Myers said on Friday. “We worked all week on that. Last year, here at regionals, we gave up that big inning, and we let them back in it.
“The two games we played against them this year we gave up that big inning. Today, we were determined not to let that happen. Our game plan worked, and we really couldn't ask for more from our hitters and our pitcher today.”
The Generals took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, saw Springfield go ahead 3-2 in the second, then retook the lead 5-3 in the third on senior Brooklyn Patchen's three-run home run to left-center.
That was all AW would need, as junior pitcher Kat Meyers slammed the door on the Devils, who had chased Generals sophomore starter Molly Conner. Meyers worked 5⅓ innings in relief, yielding three hits and striking out eight to pick up the win.
“It just feels great, and it gives us so much more confidence for our games next week,” Meyers said. “We know we can come out here and do what we know how to do.
“Nothing's ever guaranteed. We take it one at a time, and we just tried to use last year as a learning experience to never give up, and to just keep stepping on the gas.”
Anthony Wayne added two insurance runs in the fifth, one on catcher Trinity Nowicki's long homer over the bleachers in right-center, and the other on Meyers' two-out single that scored Patchen.
AW freshman third baseman Megan Sumner had an RBI double for the Generals' first run, and had a triple in the sixth. Patchen (2 for 2, 4 RBI) scored Sumner with a two-out double in the first.
For AW, this game of redemption came a year and a day after the 2022 Generals came in at 30-0 only to absorb a heart-breaking 5-4 loss to Springfield in a D-I regional semifinal at Gibsonburg.
Springfield's uprising in the second inning began with Conner walking Camryn Eckhart and Kenya Crowley. Conner struck out Hannah Schlachter before yielding an RBI single to Kiersten Wilkin and an RBI double to Olivia Rompf. Wilkin came home on an error by AW shortstop Abby Kennelly.
That miscue was forgotten after Patchen's three-run shot in the third.
“Last year, I felt for our seniors, and the year before the same,” Patchen said. “You fight for your teammates. It just felt really good for me after seeing Mady Yackee for three years. She's an amazing pitcher.
“I felt really confident at the plate today. I knew with Molly and Kat in the circle, we could do it. Today, we were just super hungry.”
The loss closed the terrific three-year career of Springfield's University of Toledo-bound senior pitcher Yackee, who was 26-1 this season and named the NLL's player of the year. She allowed 10 hits and struck out eight in her prep finale.
“We didn't play very good defense today,” Springfield coach Rob Gwozdz said, “and then we made a mistake to Patchen. She's one of the best players in northwest Ohio, and she made it hurt. That was the big blow of the game.
“The bottom line on all this stuff over the years that we've been doing this is, if we play 20 games, they're going to win10 and we're going to win 10. They're just two of the best and most outstanding programs in Ohio, and in the country.”
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First Published May 26, 2023, 11:13 p.m.
