Chardon vs. Hoover softball: Youthful Hilltoppers take valuable lessons from district loss to Vikings
May 16—The 2023 high school softball season doesn't officially begin until sometime next March.
For Chardon, it might have started about 3:30 p.m. on May 16 when the Hilltoppers persisted in the face of defeat.
Trailing North Canton Hoover, 11-2, in a Division I district semifinal at Mentor, the senior-less Hilltoppers had plenty of reason to call it a day. Instead, Coach Stewart Landies' team clawed out two more runs — and nearly had more — and went home with their heads held high after an 11-4 loss in which they never gave up.
"A lot of teams down 11-2 in the seventh can fold up, pack it up and go home," Landies said. "The girls fought hard. Sydney Murray fought all day."
It just wasn't enough to get past a North Canton Hoover team that got a huge game from the Koosh sisters, with Sydnee Koosh blasting a two-run homer in the first and her younger sister Sienna providing some insurance with a three-run single in the seventh.
The win puts Hoover (16-6) in the district final on May 18 against the winner of Massillon Jackson and Mayfield.
"That's a good ballclub over there," Landies said of the tradition-rich Vikings.
Chardon (15-9) took an early 1-0 lead when Sidney Nagaj doubled, stole third and came home on Amy O'Brien's sacrifice fly to left. But the momentum didn't stay with Chardon for long.
In the bottom of the first, Sadie Carroll tripled to right-center after Faith Kiko had an RBI single of her own, giving Hoover the lead for good at 2-1. But then Sydnee Koosh came up and blasted a two-run bomb to right-center for a 4-1 lead that wasn't really threatened the rest of the day.
"I did (know). I did," Koosh said when asked if she knew she got it all. "But I always run hard just in case. I always run it out hard."
Answering Chardon's game-starting run was big, coach Jerry Goodpasture said.
"I think the kids came ready to play," he said. "With our team it's about coming in with a lot of energy. When we do that, the results are much better. It's always nice to get some runs in the first inning.
The lead grew to 5-1 in the second on a Faith Reicosky RBI grounder. But Chardon got that run back in the fourth when Sarah Sutton crushed a home run to make it 4-2.
"I had a feeling (it was gone), but I wasn't sure," Sutton said. "It felt good."
A Tess Buchor sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth gave Hoover a 6-2 lead. But in the seventh, the Vikings really blew things wide open with a five-run outburst. Buchor and Sydnee Kush had RBI, but the big base-knock came from Sienna Koosh, who came to the plate after big-sister Sydnee was intentionally walked. Sienna Koosh bounced a long fly off the center-field wall to clear the bases for an 11-2 lead.
But Chardon didn't quit. Nicole Krakora had an RBI grounder to bring home Riley Ford, and then Nagaj collected her third hit of the game to drive in Jadyn Tarantino.
"Stay up," Sutton said of her team's mindset. "Don't ever let the score bring you down. Stay positive and keep playing."
Sutton nearly drove in two more, but a diving stop by Buchor ended the game.
Afterward, Landies talked about the positivity of the experience. After all, he said, his entire team returns next year. Chardon has also played the last handful of games without regular leadoff hitter Grace Legan.
Chardon will attempt to build more momentum for the 2023 season with regular-season games against South and Kenston this week.
"It's valuable," Landies said of the district experience on a senior-less team. "Four years ago when we went to Akron to play Louisville, the bus was silent. It was almost like they were going to their own funeral. This was different today. There was a team warming up on the field and hitting in the cages that was confident they were going to win today.
"I think today was a big hurdle. We didn't get the win, but we did some great things today we can build on for next year. ... If all goes well, it could be special."
