Hot hitters: Campbell and Schieber perfect at the plate in Galion's big win over Edison

SHELBY — Galion's Cece Campbell didn't let Tuesday's practice at Northmor — due to Galion hosting the Division IV district tournament — get to her.

"We had a good practice, but she didn't have the best practice," Galion coach Calli Bauer said. "Instead of it affecting her, she went and hit last night with her dad. This morning she hit multiple times. She's one of the hardest working kids I've ever met, and she goes above and beyond.

"She does a great job behind the plate and offensively, she's a powerhouse."

It didn't take long in Wednesday's Division III district semifinal against No. 5 Edison for the Chargers to find that out. Campbell bombed one out of left centerfield to open the scoring in the first inning and Galion never looked back en route to an impressive 17-0 win in five innings.

"We practiced our butts off yesterday offensively and it paid off for sure," Campbell said. "We were all hitting the ball to the fence, and during warm-ups we knew we were going to kill the ball. We were hunting for our pitches, and only our pitches because we knew, the umpire's strike zone.

"That's how we won."

Campbell was 3-for-3 at the plate with six RBIs, four runs and drew a walk.

"She could have pitched me anything and I felt like I could have hit it," she said about Edison's Abigail Cloud.

Madelyn Schieber, batting right behind Campbell, was also 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs. Adalyn Perry, Ava Ball and Cameron Eckert each had two hits as well combining for five runs and four RBIs.

"All week — and all season — we've said if we can get Cece and Madelyn hitting at the same time, we're gonna be hot," Bauer said. "What teams do is pitch around Cece, then Schieber is right there. Cece was put in a position tonight where they couldn't pitch around her, and she took that."

Madison Beck pitched a gem for the Tigers giving up a hit in the first inning, then proceeded to allow just two more base runners — one walk and one hit by pitch — struck out six and sat the Chargers down in order the final two innings.

"She did a great job hitting her spots," Bauer said. "Her curveball and change-up were on tonight. She actually had her 200th career strikeout as a sophomore, so that was a big deal. We're just super proud of her this season."

Through three tournament games so far, Galion has outscored opponents 39-7 with two games ending early via the run rule. Add in the Tigers' conference finale against Marion Harding on Monday and it's 52 runs scored to just 10 allowed, having done so on 50 hits.

"We're not playing for ourselves, we're playing for our team," Campbell, one of two seniors on the roster, said. "We know if we make a mistake, our team's got our back. If someone doesn't get on, we know on the next girl's gonna pick us up.

"I have so much confidence in our team right now the way we're playing."

She has helped revive the softball program at Galion enduring a winless season as a freshman, three wins as a sophomore, and eight as a junior. In Bauer's first season at the helm, the Tigers are now 12-12 after starting the season 2-8.

"(It) seems like they care more and they're putting more effort into us," Campbell said of the new coaching staff. "And it's showing, obviously. Our practices have changed tremendously, and we're allowed to cheer now in the dugout. The energy level has completely changed because our coaches are so involved."

That has helped this fairytale run at the end of the season come to fruition.

"After what we had started with to now, it's like a Cinderella season and we're just having fun with it," Bauer said.

And now the focus shifts to a district championship on Friday against No. 3 Margaretta who throttled No. 1 Huron 9-0 in the first semifinal of the night.

"We're excited," Bauer said. "We watched a little bit of Margaretta and they seem very similar to us. I think if we just play us, we're going to be OK."

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Hot hitters: Campbell and Schieber perfect at the plate in Galion's big win over Edison