Macie Coleman, Shelbie Krieger, Rootstown softball hold lead to capture district semifinal

LEAVITTSBURG — Macie Coleman had Shelbie Krieger's back.

And Krieger had Coleman's back.

Together, the two pitchers made No. 8 Rootstown's early offensive explosion stand up for a 4-3 victory over No. 7 Newton Falls in Tuesday's Division III Leavittsburg District semifinal, setting up a title match Thursday with No. 2 Ursuline.

"Truthfully, they all played for each other tonight," coach Paige Byers said. "I mean it didn't matter what was coming at us, who we moved where, what we did, they were going to put it all out on the field for everyone."

As a result, the Rovers were able to avenge a district semifinal loss to the Tigers a season ago.

"It means so much," said Coleman, a senior. "When I came in my freshman year, we had a losing record my freshman and sophomore year. All the now-sophomores came up and the team completely flipped around."

Macie Coleman, Shelbie Krieger come up clutch

The drama started when Krieger's hand began to hurt.

Up until that point, Krieger had been dominant, including striking out the first seven batters she faced Tuesday, and the Rovers' 4-0 lead looked safer than picking pizza for a child's birthday party.

Krieger tried to push through the sudden pain in her hand, but it clearly affected the sophomore ace's trademark command in the fourth as she walked the first two batters she faced, both of whom came around to score.

In came Coleman for the fifth, with the senior hurler relying on a bevy of off-speed pitches to mess with the Tigers' timing, as their hitters faced a brutally tough adjustment after batting against a fire-tossing Krieger over the first four innings.

Coleman was stellar, tossing two scoreless innings, even working around an error in the sixth, before Newton Falls began to stir in the seventh with a leadoff walk and a soft chopper down the third-base line.

Out came Byers signaling to right field, where Krieger had played ever since leaving the mound.

In came the sophomore with runners on first and second and no one out.

Krieger got two strikes on Maddie Powell on bunt attempts, then got a swing and a miss on a rise for the first out.

Olivia Valot followed with a successful sacrifice bunt to get a run home and draw within one (4-3).

Suddenly, the tying run was on third and the top of the order was up with Krieger needing just one more out.

After throwing ball one to Chloe Butler, Krieger came back with a rise for strike one; a heater toward the lower, outside corner for another swing and miss; and finally heat off the plate for her 12th strikeout as the Rovers mobbed the field.

"I just know Macie, when I was hurt, she came in for me," Krieger said. "So when it was getting a little [dicey], the situation, I knew I had to be there for her and support her, so finishing that off was really a way to do that."

Zoe Pastva, Jessica Hahn, Rootstown strike early

While the drama came late, the runs came early for the Rovers.

Fresh off a 10-run outburst against Champion in last week's sectional championship game, Rootstown got to work on Newton Falls ace Sophie Tvaroch's very first pitch, as shortstop Zoe Pastva blasted a leadoff triple deep to right.

Pastva stayed on third base for a while, but with two outs, Abby White beat out an innocent chopper between the third-base line and the mound. The center fielder's infield hit didn't just bring Pastva home. It also kept the opening inning alive, which proved critical when Coleman followed with a walk and outfielder Jessica Hahn ripped a two-RBI single up the middle for a 3-0 lead.

"Two-out hitting for us has been excellent," Byers said. "Each girl goes up and is willing to step up to that plate and find a hole."

An inning later, the Rovers were at it again.

Catcher Natalie Hammerschmidt led off the inning by rallying from an 0-2 count to work a walk. Delta Nichols followed with her own comeback from 0-2, taking a ball high and then sending a bloop over the second baseman. With second and third and one out, second baseman Maddie Wise sent a chopper to shortstop to bring home Rootstown's fourth run.

In those early innings, the Rovers worked one deep count after another, forcing Tvaroch to throw 17-plus pitches in each of the first four frames.

"We are attacking our pitches," Byers said. "Our goal is not to let that umpire call us out and we really approached it that way those first few innings."

As the game progressed, Tvaroch got better and better, ending the afternoon with four hitless innings.

And after Krieger's injury, the Tigers crept closer and closer.

But facing choppy waters, the Rovers sailed right on through.

"It's honestly exciting," Krieger said. "It's exciting where we're going to go and knowing that we've made it here as a young team."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Macie Coleman, Shelbie Krieger poised on the mound to lift Rootstown