Creed provides spark, Ontario scores 10 runs with two outs in win over Clear Fork

BELLVILLE ― Every mammoth snowball starts with one flake.

And that just so happened to be Lena Creed for the Ontario Warriors during their 13-3 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference softball run-rule victory over Clear Fork on Wednesday night.

When Creed stepped to the plate in a tie ballgame with two outs in the top of the fourth and runners on second and third, she went in with a one-track mind: get the bat on the ball and make something happen. She wasn't thinking about the 0-for-9 slump she started the season off in. She wasn't thinking about the breakout 2-for-4 performance she had the night before against the Colts when she drove in a run, scored one and drew a walk. She wasn't thinking about how the Warriors struggled through the first four innings against the Colts on Wednesday night.

It was a simple approach that turned into something massive. She delivered with a frozen rope double to centerfield scoring a pair of runs as Autumn Taylor and Eden Howard crossed the plate to put the Warriors up 4-2.

"I was going up knowing how well we all hit yesterday so that automatically makes you confident," Creed said. "I struggled at the beginning of the season at the plate so I just wanted to go up and get the bat on the ball and feel confident in myself that I could get the job done."

She definitely got the job done. It was that base hit that started the snowball that came in the sixth inning. After the Warriors scored two runs on an error in the fifth inning to make it 6-3, Ontario put up seven runs in the top of the sixth, all with two outs, to put enough space to send everyone home early with a run-rule victory. The inning was highlighted by Taylor Mullins who started the two-out rally off with a monster solo home run to center field. Kylie Snow added a two-RBI double while Taylor added an RBI double the very next batter. Olivia Kreger got in on the action with an RBI single before Alex Switaj brought in one to make it 12-3. Mullins capped off the inning with an RBI single to left to push it out to a 10-run deficit.

On the day, Ontario scored 10 of its 13 runs with two outs.

"Once we get two outs, we start to play with a sense of urgency and want to pick it up especially if we didn't score before getting two outs," Creed said. "This team knows what it is capable of and once one person starts that two-out rally, we all start believing and good things start to happen. It was a lot of fun because the dugout was hyped and everyone was into it."

To score seven runs in an inning is one thing, but to score them all with two outs says a lot about how the Warriors changed their approaches at the plate when they needed to the most.

"(Clear Fork pitcher) Pacey (Chrastina) was mixing her speeds up very well tonight and that was something she didn't let us see in the first game so it kept us off balance for a while and she did a great job," Ontario coach Sean Snow said. "Once we got through the lineup a third time, I think the girls made great adjustments. We are a great-hitting team and t took us a while to get going, but the adjustments these girls made with their approaches had a lot to do with that special inning."

It was a special inning that allowed every single Ontario player to record a hit throughout the course of the game. Taylor led the way with three hits while Mullins, Joslynne Frazier, Kylie Snow, Howard, Switaj and Creed all had two hits apiece and Trista Jewell and Kreger had one hit apiece.

"It was definitely huge," Snow said. "Listen, I am getting old and it is hard on me to be in those close games, especially against a great program like Clear Fork and a rivalry like this. So I was proud to see the girls come up and produce with two outs and put this thing to a comfortable deficit."

While Switaj and Mullins both slugged home runs in the win, it was Creed's fourth-inning clutch hit that really ignited the night. Creed has had an up-and-down start to the year after going 0-for-9 in her first nine at-bats and recording four straight games where she did not get to see the field. It wasn't until Tuesday's game against Clear Fork that she got another chance and she hasn't spoiled them. She is 4-for-7 in her last two games with three RBIs, two walks and a run scored.

"There are a lot of factors that led to Lena getting a shot to be an everyday player in our batting order," Snow said. "A lot of it has to do with what that kid does in practice when no one is watching. She practices what we preach with hard practice reps and she works incredibly hard and deserves this opportunity. She started the season 0-for-9 at the plate and now has six hits in the last two games. That is huge for her and her confidence and most importantly, huge for this team. She turns our order over and hands things off to Taylor Mullins. Can't ask for much better."

And there is no one more proud to help her team win than Creed.

"It makes me feel so good because I did put in a lot of extra work during the offseason and got a lot of extra reps so that when my time did come, I could help my team," Creed said. "I want to be in the lineup and now, it feels so good. I have more confidence at the plate and now that I am actually hitting, I feel like I can really keep this momentum."

Clear Fork (5-6, 2-4) did record seven hits with Mel Blubaugh, Macy Ousley and Renee Anders having two apiece. Anders drove in two RBIs as well, but the seven-run sixth inning was tough to overcome and it wasn't like they were committing errors and shooting themselves in the foot. They just had to chalk it up to a good-hitting Ontario team.

"They had a lot of base hits that we couldn't do anything about, but there were a few runs we could have prevented by taking some better angles in the outfield and cutting a ball off from reaching the fence and allowing runners to take extra bases," Clear Fork coach Chris Clapper said. "But other than that, there is only so much you can do when a team hits the ball like Ontario did in that one bad inning for us. That seems to be a trend."

The Colts have been plagued by big innings from their opponents all year long and continue to search for answers.

"I don't know the answer right now, but I will work on that," Clapper said. "We work every day on situations and tell them how important it is to avoid giving up big innings, but we seem to have one every game. I wish I knew the solution."

The loss was their third straight after a five-game winning streak that included a D Division championship at the MVD tournament in Ashland over the weekend. The Colts were then run-ruled by Madison and dropped to in a row to Ontario, two of the best teams in Richland County.

"We knew this week was going to be a tough one, but I also believe that if we played like I know we can, we would have competed better in these games," Clapper said. "We will try to maintain confidence and try to get better from this."

Ontario (7-4, 5-1) saw a gutsy pitching performance from Howard who allowed three runs, just two earned, on seven hits with five strikeouts in six innings. The Warrior defense played near picture-perfect with just one error. Mix that with everyone in the batting order recording a hit and three players driving in two runs apiece and you have yourself a complete performance.

"The defensive mistakes were minimal and Eden pitched a great game," Snow said. "I give a lot of credit to our pitchers because we have three very good ones that keep us in games and when our pitchers do their jobs and our offense produces like it did the last two nights, we can be very tough."

Ontario will travel to Plymouth on Thursday while Clear Fork travels to Bucyrus on Friday.

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ontario Warriors beat Clear Fork Colts in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference softball