District softball: Amherst adjusts better to tight strike zone, beats Highland

MIDDLEBURG HTS. — The Amherst softball team did a much better job adjusting to — and capitalizing on — a tight strike zone than Highland. That was the major difference Monday, as the second-seeded Comets used walks, hit by pitches and sacrifice bunts to set up big blows en route to an 8-1 Division I, Northeast 4 District semifinal victory over the seventh-seeded Hornets. Amherst (19-7) advanced to play third-seeded Brunswick (22-5), a 9-4 winner over No. 12 seed Avon (12-16) in the other semifinal, in the district title game Wednesday at 5 p.m. on Berea-Midpark's beautiful turf field. The Hornets (14-8) will complete their season today by coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning of a Suburban League American Conference game with Cuyahoga Falls that was tied at 10 when darkness stopped play. "We didn't have the timely hits we needed to produce runs," Highland coach Brent Belsole said. "We were too overaggressive, especially with that strike zone. We should have looked at more pitches." That's what the Comets did against Hornets starter Ashley Brewster (10-4), who gave up eight earned runs on eight hits, eight walks, two hit by pitches and three sacrifice bunts while striking out five over six innings. Of Amherst's eight runs, five were scored by batters that reached via walk. "From shortstop, it looked like she was hitting her spots," said Highland senior Emily Miller, who had three of her team's six hits. "(The umpire) wasn't calling them and they're a great hitting team, so you have to tip your hat to them. "We had a great season and we had a lot of girls step up. A lot of underclassmen came out of their shells and made it a lot of fun. You never knew quite what was going to happen." Amherst, which entered the postseason having lost three of its last four games, scored twice in the first, three times in the second and three more times in the third off Brewster, who allowed just one hit over her final three innings while getting an unassisted double play from third baseman Kiley Martin, who snared a line drive and dove to tag a runner who strayed too far off the base. The Comets' lightning-quick Navaeh Sadler led off the bottom of the first with one of her three bunt singles and No. 3 hitter Emma Nagy drew the first of her three walks. Sadler scored on a single to right-center by Kristen Kelley and Nagy crossed home plate when Brewster hit Makenna Dorobek and Karina Shuster to force in a run. Amherst got its three runs in the second when Dorobek, who took close 1-2 and 2-2 pitches, drilled a double to deep left to score three batters who had reached via walks. "That was crazy," Dorobek said. "I knew the bases were loaded and I had to produce some runs so we could get farther ahead in the game. "They were inside," she added of the 1-2 and 2-2 pitches. "I was confident in taking them." The Comets blew open the game with three runs in the third, which was highlighted by a two-run triple from Allie Jackson and included three more walks. Amherst might have scored more, but a runner rounded third too far on an infield hit and was thrown out. "When you're not getting the corners, you struggle," Belsole said. "You have to put it down the middle and they hit it, but at the end of the day we didn't hit the ball." Highland had a chance to score in the first against talented freshman Shuster (16-4), who quickly adjusted to the strike zone and issued no walks while fanning five, but left Brewster (2 singles, RBI) and Miller stranded at second and third. The Hornets got their lone run in the third when Alexis Mutch blooped a double down the left-field line and scored on Brewster's single. Miller followed with a one-out single, but cleanup hitter Elsa Riedy lined out to Shuster, who doubled Miller off first to keep the score at 5-1. Mutch, Brewster and Miller, the top three hitters in the lineup, combined to go 6-for-9, but no other Highland player got a hit or drew a walk. "We didn't string enough hits together to score runs," Miller said. "Amherst is a good team, so one run isn't going to cut it." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Amherst 8, Highland 1 Division I, Northeast 4 District Semifinal HIGHLAND 001 000 0 — 1 6 0 AMHERST 233 000 x — 8 8 1 WP — Karina Shuster (16-4) 7 innings, earned run, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts. LP — Ashley Brewster (10-4) 6 innings, 8 earned runs, 8 walks, 2 hit by pitch, 5 strikeouts. Highland (14-7) — Emily Miller 3 singles, Brewster 2 singles, RBI; Alexis Mutch double, run. Amherst (19-7) — Nevaeh Sadler 3 singles, 2 runs; Allie Jackson triple, walk, sacrifice, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Emma Nagy 3 walks, 2 runs; Kristen Kelley single, double, walk, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Makenna Dorobek double, two walks, hit by pitch, 3 RBIs, run, stolen base; Shuster single, hit by pitch, RBI.