Injury costs Walters run at perfection, Johnstown in loss to Indian Lake
Kurt SnyderAKRON — In an instant, Macy Walters’ dream turned into a nightmare Thursday.
Johnstown’s senior ace right-hander took a perfect game into the sixth inning. One pitch later, however, Walters left with a knee injury, and Indian Lake broke through for the game’s only three runs later in the inning, sending the Johnnies to a 3-0 loss in a Division III state semifinal at Firestone Stadium.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it. Yeah, it sucks. There is no other way to put it,” said Walters, who tried throwing a warm-up pitch before being helped off.
“Especially in that situation, in that game, I didn’t want to be pulled due to injury,” Walters added. “I obviously tried to get back up and do my warm-up pitch. I have no idea (what happened). … It’s nothing I knew of previously. It was a surprise.”
Johnstown (26-3), playing in its third state tournament since 2016, was again denied a trip to its first state final. Indian Lake (27-3) instead advanced to its first final to play defending champion Wheelersburg, which beat South Range 6-1 in the other semifinal.
Walters, who was on the mound just a couple miles from her future home at the University of Akron, struck out six of the first 15 Lakers, and the teams were scoreless into the top of the sixth inning. Senior right-hander Dakota Staffan replaced Walters and retired two of the first three batters, but the top of the Lakers’ order drew a walk and then delivered back-to-back run-scoring hits.
“Obviously, we wanted Macy to pitch that game, but any softball person can tell you there is a time in your career where you have to be ready and go with the flow,” Staffan said. “In that moment, I knew I had to be there for my team.”
Mackenzie Dixon’s RBI single up the middle broke the scoreless tie. Madison Brentlinger then shot a two-run double down the right-field line.
Johnstown had its chances against the right-handed Brentlinger, stranding two runners after a pair of errors in the first inning and two more runners after a pair of walks in the second. Walters hit a two-out triple in the fifth inning, banging the ball off the wall just below the 225-foot sign in center field, but Brentlinger stranded her.
“In sports, there is always going to be a winner and a loser. Just today wasn’t our day,” said coach Mike Justice, who returned to Johnstown to be head coach this season after previously being a part of the staff through 2021.
“I wouldn’t say there was pressure,” Justice added. “My focus was to bring the fun back to our program. Even after today, hopefully, I did that.”
Walters continued the dominance she showed throughout the season, but the Lakers did test the defense behind her and Staffan. Senior Laney Zak in center field and sophomore Peyton Mischel each made three putouts, and senior shortstop Addie Triplett and freshman second baseman Aubrey Del Cecato both handled tricky popups down the lines.
“I knew it was going to be a little bit harder (in a bigger outfield), but I knew we had to get every ball because we couldn’t let any ball drop or let any girl on base by errors," Zak said.
Three of Johnstown's four seniors — Walters, Staffan and Triplett — were in the lineup and made significant contributions when the team reached the state tournament in 2021. After falling in the district finals to Fredericktown last year, the Johnnies were out for redemption.
Johnstown emphatically gained it. The Johnnies rolled to a Licking County League-Cardinal Division championship and then shut out four of five postseason opponents during their run to a second regional championship in three seasons.
“I knew sophomore year we had a great group of girls, not just with the talent but how they came together as a team,” Triplett said. “I just knew that this was a special team. Last year, we did fall short, but we knew we had some unfinished business. We needed to get back here this year.”
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