Heath's fast start ends John Glenn's bid for repeat final four berth

PICKERINGTON — Over the last two years, an ultra talented John Glenn softball team had complied an impressive 57-6 record, so losses were a rare end result for the Lady Muskies when they took the field.

In fact, just falling behind and needing to rally was a rare thing, and trailing by say a 5-0 margin in the second inning, it never happened.

That is until Saturday during the Lady Muskies' rematch with Heath in the Division II regional title game at the Pickerington Central Softball Complex.

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage in the second inning and were able to maintain the upper hand the rest of the way, resulting in a 12-5 victory.

"We had not been in that situation in two years," John Glenn head coach Randy Larrick offered. "And that was killer, falling behind so quickly and in the way it happened put us squarely behind the eight ball right away."

Last year it was John Glenn who took the regional title with a 4-3 win and advanced to the OHSAA softball Final Four. This time it was the Lady Bulldogs' turn and Larrick had an easy explanation.

"They were just flat out the better team today," Larrick, who announced he was stepping down following the game after 32 highly successful seasons of guiding the program. "No question, they were the better team. Every time we tried to get something going, they had an answer. And that's how you win regional championships."

"Hat's off to them, they earned it," Larrick added. "They will be a great representative from this Pickerington regional, so I wish them all the luck. We gave it our best effort as always, we just were not the better team on this day."

Junior Renae Cunningham simply had a day, from the circle and the plate, to lead the Heath victory.

Cunningham picked up the pitching win with five solid innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits with 11 Ks and a pair of walks. But Cunningham was at her best by swinging an impressive big stick.

Cunningham finished her monster day with a perfect 4-for-4 afternoon with a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, and a six RBIs.

"That girl (Cunningham) had a day, she really did," Larrick explained. "At the plate, pitching she was just on fire. We could not get her out, she really swung the bat today and we didn't have an answer."

Kendell Spicer coaxed a walk from John Glenn sophomore starting pitcher Sydney Marshall to lead off the game, bringing Cunningham to the plate and her big day got started.

Cunningham belted a long two-run shot off Marshall to give the Lady Bulldogs a quick 2-0 advantage. Marshall regrouped and retired the next two Heath hitters and seemed like she would limit the damage to just the Cunningham blast.

But Savannah Lawson added to the lead as she slugged a solo home run over the left field fence to boost the Heath lead out to 3-0.

Senior Brynna Wolford led off the Lady Muskies' turn in the bottom of the frame with a frozen-rope double into left field off Cunningham. And the Muskies appeared ready for a big inning of their own.

But Cunningham quickly slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to leave Wolford stranded at second base.

Marshall quickly retired the first two Heath hitters in the top of the second, but Emma Ghiloni kept the inning going with a two-out infield single. Spicer then slugged Heath's third home run of the game with a two-run shot that pushed the lead out to the 5-0 margin.

That forced Larrick to bring in junior Hannah Bendle to try to halt the Lady Bulldog momentum, and Bendle got the final out to keep the count at 5-0.

Despite being knocked from the game, Marshall then showed a huge amount of mental toughness in leading off the second. She connected for a solo home run that bounced off the scoreboard to get John Glenn on the board and reduce the margin to 5-1.

Each team plated a run in the third to keep the four-run margin at 6-2. Marshall collected her second RBI with a single that plated Bendle, who walked while Makayla Jardin produced Heath's six run with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Heath added on again in the fourth to extend the lead out to 7-2, with Cunningham stroking a two-out triple and senior Katelynn Jardin following with an RBI base hit.

In the bottom of the frame, John Glenn had a golden opportunity for a big inning and let it slip through is fingers.

Sarah Wayne reached on a Heath error to lead off the inning, but Cunningham then collected a strikeout for the first out. Ryann Snider singled, with Wolford following up with her second hit, a RBI single, to score Wayne to pull within 7-3.

With a pair of runners aboard, senior Abby Buchtel was hit by a pitch to load the bases with only one out, as the heart of the John Glenn order was coming up.

But Cunningham was up to the challenge. She retired Bendle on a ground out to third base, then ended the threat by striking out sophomore Alivia Boothe to leave the bases loaded.

"We had a chance there in the fourth inning and couldn't get that big hit," Larrick explained. "I thought we had a chance to get back in the game right there. But again, credit Cunningham, she was on fire today."

Cunningham then capped her big day with an exclamation point by swatting a grand slam home run in the fifth to extend the lead to 11-3.

John Glenn added a pair of runs in the sixth to narrow the margin to 11-5 off Sydney Chapman, who came on in relief of Cunningham. Senior Sydney Johnson delivered a two-out double to score Buchtel, who walked and Boothe, who reached with a base hit.

Heath (23-5) added a final run in the top of the seventh for the 12-5 lead, and Chapman then retired the Lady Muskies in order to end the game.

The tough loss not only ended the Lady Muskies' season with a 25-5 record, it also halted a season long push to return to the Final Four. And closed out the softball careers of John Glenn's talented 'Senior Trio' of Wolford, Buchtel and Johnson.

"Those three seniors would have been four-year starters if not for COVID," Larrick said. "The leadership they provided us both last year and this years was just great. Abby, Brynna and Sydney are very special players and also very special young ladies. It was a pleasure to coach them for the last four years."

KSutton1@gannett.com

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Twitter: @KevinDJsports

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Heath's fast start ends John Glenn's bid for repeat final four berth