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Walsh Jesuit lead-off hitter Kaleigh Cupka smacked a triple in the first inning and scored the Warriors only run, but Walsh Jesuit came up short in a 6-1 loss to Poland in the Akron Division II Regional championship game on Saturday.
AKRON, Ohio -- The post-season magic for the Walsh Jesuit Warriors simply ran out of gas on Saturday. Poland Seminary took advantage of two Warrior errors to defeat Walsh Jesuit 6-1 in the Akron Division II softball Regional final at Firestone Stadium.
Early on, the Warriors (17-12) thought it might be their day. Leadoff hitter Kaleigh Cupka smoked a pitch from Poland pitcher Erin Gabriel up the alley in right-center field all the way to the fence. Centerfielder Maura Bobby relayed the ball to second basemen Emily Chandler in an attempt to get Cupka at third. But, Chandler airmailed her throw to third into the dugout allowing Cupka to score, giving Walsh Jesuit a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
“I was pretty confident after my first at-bat,” Cupka said. “I was hoping one run would stand up for us.”
It would be the only run the Warriors would score.
The Bulldogs would take over from there as Gabriel would dominate from the circle.
Poland (23-2) tied the game in the top of the second inning. After Gabriel walked to start the inning, Chandler laced a base hit to drive home the ace pitcher.
The Bulldogs put the game away in the third inning. Bobby led off the inning with a comebacker to Davis. The ball went in and out of her glove for an error. That opened the floodgates for Poland. Singles by Adrianna Sikora and Jenna Modic would load the bases. Gabriel would help her own cause with a shot by Cupka at third for a base hit that scored Bobby and Sikora. First basemen Taylor Mickovic would follow with a sacrifice fly to score Modic making it 4-1.
“When Katarina got behind and had to throw a strike, they took advantage of it,” Walsh Jesuit coach Bill Davis said. “They’re a good team.”
Following Cupka’s triple in the first, Gabriel set down the next eight in a row, five of those were strike out victims.
“She was a really good pitcher.” Cupka said of Gabriel, who allowed just three hits and struck out 12. “She had a really good rise ball. Not so much the speed, but the movement on it.”
Poland added two insurance runs in the fifth to finish off the scoring. Sikora and Modic led off with back-to-back singles and Gabriel walked to load the bases. Mickovic hit a fly to center that was caught by Walsh center fielder Courtney Iacobacci. Sikora went back to third base as Iacobacci threw home. The throw got past catcher Lauren Cianciolo. When Cianciolo ran the ball down, she attempted to get Gabriel at first, but she threw it past first basemen Maddie Sheppard, allowing two runs to score.
Poland will play in the state’s Final Four Thursday afternoon at Firestone Stadium against the winner of the Clayton regional to be played on Sunday.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Poland Seminary (23-2) 0-1-3-0-2-0-0 = 6 7 1
Walsh Jesuit (17-12) 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 = 1 3 2
WP: Gabriel 14-1
LP: Davis 14-8