ELIDA – In softball, as in life, all good things must come to an end.
Cardington’s run of state final-fours came to an end with an 11-1 loss in five innings to Sherwood Fairview on Saturday, May 29, at Elida Middle School.
The loss ends a string of three consecutive trips to the state tournament. It’s the Pirate’s worst loss since 2017, when they fell to Wheelersburg in the state semifinal.
“We haven’t been beaten by more than four runs, I think,” Cardington coach Tod Brininger said. “We don’t lose very often. (Fairview is) a very good hitting team. All the credit to them. They obviously hit the ball extremely well.”
Fairview, on the other hand, is headed to the state tournament for the first time. It had been in the regional bracket in six of the last eight years but had not played in the regional final since 1998.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Fairview coach Staci Renollet said. “They really have worked hard and they play well together. I’m just really excited that we get another week together and we get to experience going on (to Akron).”
Anna Ankney did most of the damage for Fairview. She hit two homers, including a grand slam, and drove in seven runs on three hits for the game.
“She lives for moments like these,” Renollet said. “You could just see it in her face — the bigger the game, the bigger she’s going to play.”
It could have been worse. Ankney’s RBI single in the second inning that gave Fairview a 2-0 lead should have driven in at least one more run. But the trail runner stopped halfway between third and home and was tagged out on the play. Ankney ended up with a single instead of a double.
Ankney added a two-run home run in the fourth to make it 4-0 and a grand slam in the fifth to blow the game open.
The score was worse than the game played. The Pirates struggled on offense against Fairview pitcher Paige Ricica. Cardington had a hit in each of the first three innings but couldn’t sustain a rally.
Hailee Edgell led off the fourth with a single and Genevieve Longsdorf followed with a single. An out later, Chelsey Miller drove home Edgell for the Pirates’ only run.
Ricica recovered to get the final two outs of the inning. She ended up allowing six hits for the game while striking out seven over a complete five innings of play to get the win.
Her batterymate Olivia Ricica went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Alyssa Merritt finished 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to back Ankney on offense.
“Paige and Olivia are sisters and they just click,” Renollet said. “Really, throughout the tournament trail, we’ve given up five runs. Facing those good teams, Olivia does a good job of reading and picking Paige’s pitches.”
Miller and Dana Bertke had two hits apiece to pace the Pirates.
Fairview had a runner on with two outs in the fifth before it exploded. The next eight batters reached, led by Ankney’s long ball, to blow the game open.
Longsdorf, a freshman, went the distance in the circle for the Pirates. She had not given up more than five runs in a game in her young career.
“Defensively, we didn’t attack the ball like we usually do,” Brininger said. “That’s on us. (Fairview) hit the ball hard, but we didn’t attack it. We gave them way too many outs, and that’s not a team you can give extra outs to.”
Brininger doesn’t believe he’ll have any trouble finding ways to motivate his young hurler in the future.
“To know that kid ...” Brininger said, fighting back emotions. “I would assume she’s gonna go to her pitching coach … and they’re gonna work on stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised that by this time next year, she’s four to five miles faster. That’s how hard that kid works.
“This is gonna burn at her for a while, which it should. They were hitting the ball hard and we didn’t make the plays that we should have. But it’s going to inspire her to be even better the next couple of years.”
Fairview will play Wheelersburg in the state semifinal at Firestone Stadium in Akron at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
