Regional Softball: Freshman leads Cardington back to state tournament

ELIDA — The kid came through, not that there were any doubts.

In the toughest of tough spots, Cardington freshman Ari Simpson led the Pirates to a fourth Division III regional softball championship Friday night at Elida High School, knocking off Van Buren 14-4 in six innings.

But don't let the final score fool anyone. The Pirates were in a desperate spot when Simpson came to the rescue.

"I’ve known her forever, so it’s really neat to see someone you’ve grown up with step up in a big game like this when we have somebody who’s hurt," Cardington senior shortstop Riley Burchett said. "I’m sure she was super nervous, so I think it was really just about supporting her and letting her know we have her back on defense. Showing up with hits also really helped."

Ten minutes before the game, Cardington coach Tod Brininger told Simpson to stay loose because starting ace Genevieve Longsdorf was ailing with an injured back and hip.

"Since it was the last minute, I was really nervous and freaking out, but he helped me calm myself down and collect myself," Simpson said of the brief pep talk from Brininger.

Longsdorf gutted her way through the first inning, striking out two and getting a fly ball out to left field, but she walked the first two batters of the second inning and was clearly laboring with every pitch.

"I thought I was going to try to tough it out, and then I got over to warm up and I was in pain the whole time and really couldn’t do it," Longsdorf said. "I was struggling the whole time, so I let Ari know that you’re going to go in. She took it well. She was able to do it. I’m proud of her."

Simpson allowed a stolen base which led to a run after a wild pitch, but she quickly settled down to induce a comebacker, throw a strikeout and get a fly ball to right field to get out of the inning.

"I had utter confidence in her," Cardington senior outfielder Dana Bertke said. "It sucked for G. I felt so bad for her, but she’s always picking people up in the dugout, and she’s always up for Ari. Ari stepped up, and I knew she could do it."

Simpson took Brininger's words to heart.

"He told me he has all the confidence in the world in me and I needed confidence in myself that way I can be the best pitcher I can be," she said. "The first batter was a little rocky, but then I just gained my confidence and did my job. I knew my teammates would be there to back me up, so I had confidence in my teammates, and I just had to have confidence in myself and get the job done."

Van Buren (25-2) went 1-2-3 in the top of the third, and in the bottom of the inning, the Pirates (24-3) had the bases loaded with one out when Simpson came to the plate.

"She’s been up and down this year, but she hits the ball so hard," the coach said. "When we first saw her hitting in the cage, we’re like, ‘Oh, she’s going to rip covers off some balls.’"

Nicknamed Ariana Grande by her teammates, Simpson delivered an Ariana Grande Slam over the left-field fence to give her team a 6-1 lead.

"All I was thinking was I needed to find a gap and get a base hit, and the ball just happened to be my favorite pitch, so I just swung," she said. "All I was thinking was just hit. That’s my mindset, get up there and do your job."

Senior teammate Hailee Edgell wasn't worried about Simpson in her tight situations. Just the opposite.

"She definitely has a lot of confidence, and I definitely feel like our team boosts each other’s confidence up during the game," Edgell said. "She knew we were in a big spot where we needed a hit to come in clutch. She definitely did that for us."

The Pirates picked up two more runs on a Mac Linkous triple for an 8-1 lead and from there kept adding to the scoreboard.

"I think we thrived," Linkous said. "I think we really took it in stride. It was a big jump for us going from G to Ari, but we all had faith in her. That’s the thing with our team. We have each others' backs. We’re not going to give up just because some small mishap happens. We have a strong team, and we have backups for every single place on this field."

This is Cardington's fourth trip to the state tournament in five seasons and six years as 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19 and last year's squad lost to eventual state champion Fairview 11-1 in the regional final.

The Pirates will play either top-ranked Wheelersburg or Portsmouth West on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Akron's Firestone Stadium.

"It doesn’t even seem real that we’re actually going back to state. It hasn’t even set in for me honestly. I feel like it’s another game that we’ve won. It’s crazy," Edgell said.

Against Van Buren, Simpson added an RBI single to go with her grand slam, while fellow freshman Abbi Hardwick singled three times as did Bertke. Linkous had two singles to go with her triple, while Burchett doubled and scored three times.

Longsdorf worked an inning-plus, striking out two with no hits and no walks, while Simpson pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

"We’ve got to refocus," Brininger said. "I gave them three days off, so relax and let’s get healthy. Right now, we’re getting into a groove hitting, and that’s going to be something special."

The Pirates produced an remarkable 43 runs in the two regional games, having pasted Tinora 29-4 in Tuesday's semifinal game at Elida.

For Longsdorf, it's an injury she's been dealing with since the first week of the season, according to Brininger. It's also one that was exacerbated this week.

"You can’t tell with her numbers because she’s been dominant, but she’s battling through it," the coach said. "Tuesday night on the vary last play, if you watched her, she hit that foot trying to get that ground ball to short and did something. She battled. She tried to come in and do what she could. She could have come back in. She warmed up every inning just to stay loose in case it was needed. She knows what’s at stake."

Indeed she does.

"It was hard," Longsdorf admitted. "I want to be in there, and I want to win it for my team. I want to help them anyway I can. To take myself out was rough for me, but I had all the trust in her. I’m glad she could come through. I’m so proud of her. She did amazing and couldn’t ask anymore of her."

The kid came through for sure.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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Northmor ends as district baseball runner-up

MOUNT VERNON — Northmor took home a Division III district baseball runner-up trophy Friday night after a rain-delayed game at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Top-seeded and state-ranked Liberty Union blanked the Golden Knights 10-0 in five innings to win the district championship.

Major League Baseball draft prospect Jacob Miller struck out 14 Northmor batters, throwing just 63 pitches for 49 strikes. Liberty Union scored two runs in the first and second innings and then broke it open with four runs in the third.

The Lions will return to MVNU Thursday at 5 p.m. to play Ridgewood in a regional semifinal game.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Regional Softball: Freshman leads Cardington back to state tournament