LEAVITTSBURG — The tying run was on second base with two outs. Aubrey Evans fired a pitch, and immediately after, the home plate umpire rang up the hitter on a called third strike.
“I was sitting there shaking a little bit,” McDonald catcher Addison Grewell said.
The strikeout clinched the win, and the McDonald softball team beat Mogadore 7-5 on Saturday at LaBrae High School to win the program’s first district championship since 2019.
The Blue Devils sent nine to the plate in the opening frame as they jumped on the No. 1 ranked team in the bracket.
Miley Titus got things going for the Blue Devils in the top of the first inning. The leadoff hitter dropped down a bunt and made it to third on a throwing error. Gianna Mancini drove her in with an RBI groundout to second base.
Sophia Pecchia reached on a dropped third strike and Kayla Helco drew a walk. Pecchia scored on Marissa Colorich’s two-out RBI single to right field, and Lexi Visdak got jammed but blooped a single down the right-field line to score Helco and put McDonald up 3-0.
Grewell broke the game open for the Blue Devils with a three-run home run over the fence in left, extending their lead to 6-0.
“We knew we had to come out strong,” Grewell said of the first inning. “We knew not to be afraid of our opponents, but it was huge for us.”
Mogadore’s Rylee Clark drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on two wild pitches to start the home half of the first. And Addie Christy’s bloop single over first base plated Clark and got the Wildcats on the board.
McDonald’s Kylee Gherdi doubled with one out in the top of the fourth, and Titus drove her in with a single to center as the Blue Devils pushed their lead to 7-1.
Mogadore got that run back after MJ Shellenbarger scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth.
Mogadore’s Jayden Miller got on via a two-out triple to right in the fifth, and she made it a 7-3 game after scoring on a wild pitch. Christy followed with another triple, but Evans battled back from a 3-0 count to record a strikeout and end the threat.
But the Wildcats were within striking distance, and they made one final push in the seventh.
Gracie Funk drew a walk and Clark doubled to with one out. Miller walked to load the bases, bringing Cristy to the plate.
Christy hit a sharp grounder off Evans leg for an RBI infield single, cutting the deficit to 7-4, and a sacrifice fly made it a 7-5 game with the tying run on second base.
But Evans punched out Shellenbarger looking to end the game.
“We had a good first inning, and we needed that. We needed that six-run cushion,” McDonald head coach Michelle Titus said. “In these games, a district final game, anything could happen. We just worked hard all the way through. And Aubrey, she was fabulous.”
The district championship was an achievement for a Blue Devils team that had some ups and downs, as well as some question marks entering the spring.
Last season was the first year that Blue Devils failed to reach the district championship since 2017. So the goal was simple: get back to the district title.
McDonald only had four returning starters from the 2024 campaign, and two of them moved to new positions this year. The inexperience and learning curve resulted in the Blue Devils dropping their first four games.
However, the Blue Devils found their footing on the diamond and began to rattle off a couple lengthy winning streaks. They carried that confidence into the tournament and picked up wins over Kirtland and United before knocking off Mogadore.
Now, for the first time in several years, McDonald softball players can call themselves district champs.
“Our goal today was to support each other and play 100 percent, win or lose. That’s what they did,” Michelle Titus said. “They supported each other all the way. They played phenomenal.”
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