Jeff Harrison
The Daily Jeffersonian
PICKERINGTON — Sorry Big Coach, the vegetable garden will have to wait.
The girls have something better in mind: A trip to the state tournament!
John Glenn High punched its ticket to the OHSAA Division II State Tournament in Akron by capitalizing on early Dover miscues en route to a 4-1 victory in the regional championship game at the Pickerington Central High School complex on Saturday.
The Lady Muskies will carry a lofty 27-3 record into the state tournament at Akron’s Firestone Stadium where they will face the state’s No. 1-ranked team — Poland Seminary (30-1) — in the semifinals on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
This will be John Glenn’s second trip ever to the state tourney, with the other coming in 2003 when the event took place in Ashland.
“Going into the season, we knew we could have something special,” veteran John Glenn coach Randy Larrick said following his team’s festive celebration and acceptance of the regional championship trophy, “and they’ve reached our expectations.”
How does Larrick, a veteran of 20 years as the JGHS boss, feel about going to the state tournament?
“I haven’t got my garden planted yet,” he smiled, “but that’s O.K. I’m having a lot more fun doing this.”
A couple of early “gifts” got the Lady Muskies off and running in the first inning.
Junior Regan Buchanan reached on a one-out walk and promptly stole second. After out number two, junior Tori Clark singled to left and then played “cat and mouse” with the Dover defense, stopping half-way between first and second to try to coax a throw. A play was finally made on Buchanan at third, but the ball got away and she was able to scamper home with the game’s first run.
An ensuing infield popup off the bat of junior Bre Bradley was misplayed, allowing Clark to cross for a 2-0 John Glenn lead.
“It’s always nice to get a couple of runs early,” said Larrick. “They have a very young battery and we wanted to take advantage of that if we could.”
Dover threatened in the second inning when Alisha Walker reached via a base-on-balls and Taylor LaRocca singled. Kayla Limbacher then hit a liner to right field and Regan Buchanan attempted to throw her out at first, but senior first baseman Trish Klass alertly turned and fired a strike to junior catcher Syd Brown who applied the tag to a sliding courtesy runner Maria Alexander to end the inning.
John Glenn doubled its lead in the fourth frame thanks in part to another Dover error.
Clark led off with a hard single off the left field fence before Bradley reached on an error while trying sacrifice the runner to second. After two outs, including a foiled squeeze bunt try when the batter inadvertently stepped on the plate, senior pitcher Rachel Townsend gave herself some breathing room by ripping a two-run single to right to plate freshman pinch runner Teresa Kuhns and Bradley for a 4-0 Lady Muskie advantage.
“It’s a whole lot better going to the seventh with a four-run lead instead of just two,” Larrick offered.
Dover finally got on the scoreboard with two outs in the seventh when junior Ashton Scott belted a no-doubt home run to left, but it was too little, too late for the Lady Tornadoes.
Townsend (27-3) picked up the complete-game pitching win, spacing five hits, striking out six and walking three and benefiting from several nice plays in the field, including a couple of cannon-like throws from senior shortstop Jenna Shingary from deep in the hole to a stretching Klass at first.
Clark’s two singles led the way for the Lady Muskies, with Townsend, Klass and junior Macey Brosie each getting a single.
Freshman Maggie Murphy (18-10) took the loss for Dover, posting four strikeouts and one walk.
Scott had a home run and single to lead the Lady Tornadoes, with LaRocca, Limbacher and Sarah Mills adding singles.
Larrick credited the Lady Tornadoes for a fine tournament showing to reach the all-Eastern District final.
“They’ve gotten so much better,” Larrick said of Dover, which closed out with a 19-10 record. “A lot of their losses came early, and we’re very fortunate to get out of here with a victory.”
In the other regional championship games, Poland Seminary beat Navarre Fairless, 5-0; Hebron Lakewood routed Clyde, 12-0; and Greenville topped Urbana, 2-1.
Saturday’s results means four of the top five teams in the final state coaches poll will be in Akron. While Poland Seminary was ranked No. 1, Greenville was No. 2, Herbron Lakewood was No. 4 and John Glenn was No. 5.
NEXT— The state semifinals await John Glenn on Thursday, with the Lady Muskies facing Poland Seminary at 12:30 p.m. The other semifinal kicks off the day’s action as Hebron Lakewood plays Greenville at 10 a.m.
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