BLACK RIVER HIGH SCHOOL
Pitcher Dagmar Smith is back in the lineup for Black River, and the Pirates are back in the district finals. They will face Columbia on Thursday after defeating Trinity 7-1 on Wednesday.
AMHERST, Ohio – Black River’s softball team is so close, it can taste it.
According to school officials, the Pirates have never been to the regional level. With a 3-0 North Ridgeville Division III District semifinal win over Lutheran West on Thursday, Black River is one win away from history.
Not that it’s much of a surprise to anyone in black and gold.
“When we started this season, (making regional) was one of our goals,” Black River coach Merle Simmons said. “It’s there for the taking. They can go as far as they want to go.”
That seems to be the consensus among the Pirates (17-3), who have already knocked off defending state champion Jeromesville Hillsdale in the postseason.
“We’re going into the district final with nothing to lose,” Black River catcher Taylor Goff said. “It’s nice to know we’re one game closer.”
Black River is one game closer because – as usual – Dagmar Smith (17-3) was, well, Dagmar Smith.
The sophomore right-hander threw a two-hitter and struck out 11 in yet another dazzling performance. In two games against Lutheran West – she beat the Longhorns 5-0 earlier in the year – Smith has a combined 25 strikeouts and allowed just three hits.
Smith began by striking out five of the first six batters she faced and didn’t allow a hit until there was one out in the third.
She settled done after that to retire the next five batters and didn’t allow another hit until Carey Smith’s double to start the sixth.
Smith finished the frame by retiring the next three hitters in order.
“She’s tough,” Lutheran West coach Angela Stelts said. “She’s probably the toughest pitcher we’ve faced.
“She’s confident in herself and in her pitches. She knows what she needs to do, knows what she wants and knows how to get it done.”
So does Goff. The junior catcher not only calls the game for Smith, but the .462 hitter knows what to do at the plate.
Against the Longhorns (3-10), it seemed like Goff was always in the thick of things.
Her two-out double in the third, plated Smith and Kayla Finkel and she was in the mix again in the sixth.
With the Pirates clinging to a two-run lead, Goff opened the frame with a double to left-center field and came around to score on a single by Nora Smith.
“I always go out and try to play my best,” Goff said. “If everyone is having a good game, I try to go out and have a better game and get everyone going.”
Everyone should be going nuts Saturday when the top-seeded Pirates play No. 2 Loudonville.
The Redbirds (21-4) were trailing Columbia (15-3) by two heading into the sixth, but scored seven runs over the next two innings to win 8-3.
“We’re going in there like we don’t have anything to lose,” Goff said. “It’s nice to know we’re one game closer (to making history).”
In other softball playoff action:
In a Barberton Division I District sectional, scheduled six different times and finally played today, Medina and first-year coach Jessica Toocheck defeated Brecksville-Broadview Heights 4-1.