Softball | Tuslaw cruises to back-to-back district titles

CRESTON — The smile shared between Tuslaw seniors Meridith Rankl and Macaira Fox said it all Thursday evening.

After squeezing the game's final out in centerfield, Fox made a beeline for Rankl and embraced her as the Mustangs celebrated their second straight Division III district title.

"She is like a sister to me," said Rankl. "She is amazing, we work really well together and I couldn't have done it without her, and winning another district title is amazing."

The Mustangs advanced to play South Range, a 5-1 winner over Gilmour Academy, in a regional semifinal Wednesday in Ravenna.

Fox getting the final out was just icing on the cake for the pair as Rankl acknowledged the special bond between the two.

It was only fitting that both seniors played central roles in Tuslaw's 11-1 win over Norwayne in the Creston District final. Just two days removed from a tough hitting performance against Chippewa in the district semis, the Mustangs came out with a vengeance.

Leading off the Mustangs half of the first, Fox roped a double left, Lillian Bucher singled to short to bring up Rankl. Down in the count 1-2, Rankl turned on the pitch and powered a three-run homer to left field to give her team the early 3-0 lead.

"I was just looking for a pitch to hit and trying to find my pitch," said Rankl. "It came in high and inside and I was able to drive it out of the park."

That set the tone as Tuslaw (18-5) pounded out nine hits in the game, five of them for extra bases.

"We knew going into yesterday's practice that we were capable of so much more than what we did on Tuesday," said Mustangs coach Cayla Mattox. "We knew that we had to come out here, attack our pitches, get after it, and that's what we wanted to do."

In the second inning, another senior, Miriam Peterson, drew a walk before Madeline McBride came on as a courtesy runner. After Annebelle Liebig singled, Brandie Cooper put both runners into scoring position with a fly out before Fox drove in McBride with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

Kylie Johnson roped an RBI double and scored on a defensive miscue as Tuslaw extended its lead to 6-0 in the third. Camryn Kiefer put the final exclamation mark on the win with a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Fox finished 1-for-1 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Johnson had two hits as every hitter in the lineup reached base.

"It's just amazing how they make my job easy," said Mattox. "When I know 1-through-12 or 1-through-13, that I can put anybody in the game and the job will get done, that's great."

That was more than enough for Rankl, who finished with nine strikeouts, seven of them in the first three innings. She finished district play with 10 innings pitched, only allowing two hits and striking out 19.

"From that first pitch out, you just want to set the tone and keep going," said Rankl. "Honestly, I just wanted to take it one pitch at a time, really spin the ball and hit my locations."

Rankl praised the defense played behind her. Kaitlyn Mazzocca tracked down two flies in right field, Fox patrolled center, Bucher raced into foul territory to snare a fly ball and Peterson held the Bobcats' running game in check.

"They mean the world to me," said Rankl. "They are so strong and I believe in every single one of them and I have the utmost confidence in all of them to get the job done."

Her coach couldn't be happier to have Rankl suiting up for her and penciling her name in the lineup.

"She is a freak," said Mattox. "I can't ask for a better leader as a senior, a better leader in the circle or a better three-hole hitter. She is just an awesome kid all around, an awesome athlete and keeps coming out every single day and giving us her best effort. She's stellar."

Despite the loss, it was another great season for the Bobcats, who had to replace stalwarts Kennedy Kay and Reese King from last year and still made it to the district final. Alexa Cottrell, Anna Metsker, Jadyn Roper and Lily Rieman were just a few of the players who stepped up in a big way.

However, Thursday's game started ominously as the home plate umpire twice addressed a pitching issue in the opening inning with Cottrell.

"She lost her focus there when the umpire talked to her about her not separating her hands," said Norwayne coach Bob Young, whose team finished the year 16-5. "She's had the same motion all year though.

"We just let the little thing bother us, we didn't make the plays. That's a really good team over there, and you can't make the extra mistakes that we did."

Laney Frary led the Bobcats with a third-inning single and Rieman doubled in the fifth to score Zoe Gadosik. In the circle, Cottrell finished with three strikeouts in going the distance.

"We played tough all year and had a really good season," said Young. "To be a district runner-up, after what we lost last year, it just speaks volumes of the growth these ladies made this year.

"It will be tough to lose our seniors, but we are also excited with who is coming back next."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Softball: Tuslaw beats Norwayne for second district title in a row