Softball | Big hits propel Norwayne past Black River, on to district championship game

CRESTON — The last time Norwayne and Black River met in the tournament, the Bobcats didn't score a run. 

It was just a year ago when the Pirates marched into Creston and beat the top-seeded Bobcats 3-0, stonewalling Norwayne from playing for a district championship on its home field. 

This time, it took just two batters to get a run across the plate. 

Norwayne scored all of its runs over the first three innings and shut down Black River the rest of the way for a 5-4 win in the Div. III Creston District semifinals. After disappointing exits over the past several tournaments, the Bobcats finally get to play for a district title, facing top-seeded Tuslaw on Thursday at 5 p.m.

"We hit the ball," Norwayne coach Bob Young said. "We hit it hard at people. That's what it takes in the tournament — a big team effort. The girls really stepped up tonight. ... It's a whole team effort and I'm proud of them." 

A few big swings were all Norwayne needed to avoid another low-scoring performance. 

Lily Rieman ripped a triple during the Bobcats' first at bat to set the tone and scored on a throwing error on Jadyn Roper's bunt the very next at bat, giving the Norwayne an early 1-0 lead. Alexa Cottrell's stand-up double in the gap later in the inning made it 3-0. 

"It made us really get our energy up," Cottrell said of Rieman's leadoff triple. "Getting that triple got us all up on our feet, yelling and screaming. We knew that every one of us could do it." 

However, Black River quickly made it interesting. 

The Pirates' bats got hot all at once in the third inning. 

Mallory Eckert, Jordan Bradford, Lilly Strief and Abbie Graves all came up with hits, highlighted by Strief's two-RBI double, to take a 4-3 lead. 

Luckily for Norwayne, Anna Metsker wasted no time in responding. After Jadyn Roper singled, Metsker sent a deep fly ball straight to centerfield. Even Metsker wasn't sure it was going to get out, but it ended up clearing the fence, bringing in two runs and giving the Bobcats a 5-4 lead. 

"We were down at the time, so I (was thinking), 'Just a base hit. A base hit will do the job,'" Metsker said. "When you hit a home run, you know the feeling when it hits the bat. But it didn't feel like that like it normally does. I was like, 'It's probably a pop fly.'" 

From there, Cottrell and the Bobcats' defense made sure Black River didn't make any kind of comeback. Only three Black River players reached base over the final four innings. 

That number was almost four, but Roper ensured that didn't happen. 

After Bradford singled with one out, Black River's No. 3 hitter Lilly Stief came to plate and skied a ball to shallow center field. A hit would have put serious pressure on Norwayne, putting a runner in scoring position with some of the Pirates' top hitters due at the plate. 

But Roper was there, diving to make the out, stymying Black River's chance. Julia Larrison caught a harmless infield pop fly to close it out during the next at bat. 

"It was a really big sigh of relief," said Cottrell, who allowed three earned runs and eight hits in a complete-game performance. "I was really happy for her." 

The win marked a breakthrough for a Norwayne program that's had plenty of good teams in recent years but has been unable to reach the district final. 

"We wanted to be playing that game on our home field and they stepped up and did a great job," Young said. 

Meanwhile, Black River finished its season above .500 and got back to the district stage a year after reaching the district finals. 

"We lost three really strong seniors (from) last year," Black River coach Jennifer Bradford said. "It's taken a while to fill those gaps, but the kids who have filled those gaps work really, really hard and have made a lot of improvements through the season." 

The Pirates got some outstanding play from a few different spots against Norwayne too. 

Offensively, Jordan Bradford led the way with three hits, Mallory Eckert had two and Strief led the team with two RBIs. Mandy Hopkins also gave the Pirates some outstanding play at second base, making several backhanded grabs to snuff out potential Norwayne hits. 

"She is a phenomenal athlete," Jennifer Bradford said. "She is just so naturally quick to move to the ball. She's a kid who is so calm and relaxed."