Ashland's hitters fire on all cylinders during undefeated MVD Tourney

ASHLAND — Haley Lang was still savoring the moment after helping lead the Ashland High School softball team to a 17-4, six-inning win over Shelby Saturday at Brookside West Park by clouting a towering walk-of grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning.

That, coupled with wins over Richmond Edison (10-6) and Norwayne (12-2), gave Ashland the “M” Division crown of the MVD Sports Ohio Invitational Tournament.

Lang had a trio of hits in the game against Shelby, adding a pair of doubles and drove in four runs on the day.

“It was my first walk-off grand slam,” Lang said with a huge smile, saying she just wanted to make solid contact in the moment leading up to her blast. “Just something to drive up the middle, definitely not thinking too much, trying to power it because then I’ll over-swing. So, just something to strike that I could get a good hack at.”

Lang is one of three seniors for the Arrows, along with Natalie Atkins and Marcy Baker, who Ashland is counting on this season. In fact, Atkins had a two-run home run in Ashland’s win over Norwayne, and Baker cracked a two-RBI single in that game in the fourth inning that provided the differential for the five-inning game.

Lang was intentionally walked on her at bat before she clubbed the grand slam.

“She’s a fantastic player, she’s a great leader, a great role model, she definitely does a great job being our leader out there in the field in that switch to being our shortstop instead of catcher,” said Ashland coach Mindy Baker. “Haley does a great job talking to our infielders, keeping them confident in knowing exactly where they need to be to make plays, so it’s great overall.”

Shelby scored a run in the top of the first inning, but Ashland eclipsed the lead with a trio of runs in the bottom of the first with freshman Madison Hoffman coming up big with a two-run single to left. Hoffman drove home a run on a sacrifice fly in Ashland’s three-run third inning and added a single in the game.

“Madison’s a great little kid, and it’s hard to imagine being freshmen because they’re so strong and talented between Madison, Isla (McFrederick), Kate (Aber) and Miley (Baker), because they surprise us all of the time,” coach Baker said. “Maddy’s head is strong every time, she’s very determined, and she comes through with hits when we need her to.”

Sophomore lefty Makaree Chapman went four innings for the win in the circle for the Arrows, allowing one run on a pair of hits with six strikeouts. Chapman also doubled, singled and drove in five runs. Classmate Keagan Slater tossed the final two innings, giving up three runs on four hits.

“She looked very sharp. She started off strong and ended strong, and she is doing great offensively too,” said coach Baker of Chapman’s work in the circle and at the plate. “She put it all together today.”

Alyssa Neil had a pair of singles and drove in a run for Shelby with Maggie Bogner driving in a pair with a single. Adey Cornette went the first 3⅓ frames for the Whippets, suffering the loss, yielding 10 runs (seven earned) on eight hits with one strikeout and one walk. Kelsey Snyder finished up, giving up three earned runs on three hits with one base on balls.

Atkins tripled and single for Ashland, and Miley Baker, Matcy Baker, McFrederick and Slater all tagged singles.

“We have definitely been improving every single game, we were 0-3 to start but (Friday) night we got our first win, and we’ve been progressing every game, having fun,” Lang said. “I think that was the biggest thing. There’s a lot of your girls so I don’t think they were as confident, but the seniors bring confidence to them and have really made us play better.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Softball: Ashland rolls over Shelby at MVD Tourney