BURTON—Berkshire jumped on Beachwood for six runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 12-2 five-inning win in a Division III sectional championship game on Friday.
“It’s always better to play from ahead than from behind, that’s for sure,” said Berkshire head coach Dave List. “Anytime you can distance yourself from the opponent, it really limits what they can do to get back in the game. It is important, especially in a tournament game, to get out to that early lead.”
Whitney Davis initiated the six-run rally with a leadoff single, stole second, and scored on Jenna Hornak’s RBI single. Hornak advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on Liv Masink’s RBI single. Kate Miller singled and scored on Bailey Jokinen’s RBI hit, putting the Badgers ahead 3-0.
Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Mallory Durosko, who drove in two runs with a single to center. Davis capitalized on an error, bringing home Julia Young to cap the Badgers’ rally in the first.
Beachwood scored in the second inning as Kelsey Cohen doubled and later scored on Allie Rindsbergs’ groundout, making it 6-1.
Berkshire responded with a three-run rally.
Masink doubled, Miller walked, and Kylie Gleason drove in Masink with a groundout. Young’s RBI triple plated Miller, and Young scored on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 9-1.
Beachwood pulled to within 9-2 in the third third when Mattie Spaller singled and scored on a fielder’s choice.
The Badgers scored a run in the bottom half of the inning and added one more in the fourth and fifth innings to invoke the run rule.
A team with no seniors on the roster won its 13th game of the year, and to top it off, they’ve added a sectional title to boot.
“It’s super exciting. The future of Berkshire softball looks extremely bright,” List said of his team’s youth. “It’s been everybody (contributing). I can’t say enough great things about how (the juniors) have been able to accept that role when we don’t have any seniors. It’s our first winning season in a handful of years.”
Berkshire has exceeded all expectations by a long shot this season with a young roster.
“There’s a lot of talent in that dugout,” List said. “Whitney (Davis) is an elite travel ball player. The rest of these girls play other sports, and they’re tremendous athletes. Whenever you have a handful of athletes, it’s certainly easier for them to understand what you’re trying to teach them. It’s just a testament to having some success in other programs, and it makes (coaching) easy. They’re a fun group of girls to coach.”
Coming into the year, Coach List had some questions that needed answers, and after 23 games, they’ve all been answered.
“The big question mark I had with this group was, ‘Would we get enough offense?’” List said. “We lost our top four or five hitters in the lineup to graduation, so it was on my mind going into the year. Hitting hasn’t been our problem; we’ve had tons of games where we’re scoring double-digit runs and hitting from top to bottom.”
Davis earned the win in the circle after allowing two unearned runs on one hit and she struck out five.
“I tried to throw more movement pitches,” she said. “I saw that they were swinging at the riseball or the drop curve. I let (the offense) motivate me to pitch better because of how good our offense was doing.”
Masink led the Berkshire offense by going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and one run scored.
Davis also went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, while Durosko finished 2-for-2 with three RBI.
Young had two hits and an RBI, while Jokinen, Gleason, and Hornak each had an RBI.
The Bison ended their season with a 10-4 record.
Arianna Preston worked 4 ⅓ innings for Beachwood in the circle, surrendering 11 runs on 13 hits with four free passes and five strikeouts.
Spaller and Cohen each recorded hits, while Rindsberg picked up an RBI.
Berkshire continues tournament play next Tuesday when they face off with Champion in a district semifinal matchup.
“We know what we’re facing in Champion, they’re a state powerhouse,” List said. “The message to the girls is, ‘Just enjoy the experience of playing this team.’ We’re going to go out there in an effort to compete with them and see how things unfold on Tuesday.”
Berkshire’s regular season continues on Saturday when the Badgers host Kirtland at 10 and Kenston at noon.
