District softball: Brunswick bats come alive, but not enough to beat Mentor

SOLON — The never-give-up Brunswick softball team needed one more inning. Heck, the Blue Devils may have only needed one more out. The bats exploded late, but a wasted opportunity early, an error and two outs on the basepaths were a bit too much to overcome as 10th-seeded Brunswick fell 7-6 to No. 3 seed Mentor in the Division I, Northeast 3 District championship on a chilly Wednesday evening at Solon High. In beating the Blue Devils (16-11) for the third time this season, the Greater Cleveland Conference champion Cardinals (18-8) advanced to the regional semifinals, where they will meet the winner of a district final between sixth-seeded Medina and second-seeded Massillon Jackson, who will play Friday at 2 p.m. at Massillon High. Down 7-2 going to the top of the seventh, Brunswick got to 7-6 before Bella Buczek, who plated the final two runs with a line drive single, was thrown out trying to go to second base on a throw to the plate. The play epitomized the Blue Devils' bad luck, as Mentor should have simply thrown to second. However, catcher Kathryn Bouffard was able to field the throw from center on one hop and fired to shortstop Peyton Willis covering second. The throw was a tad high and a bit to the first base side of the bag, but it took Willis' glove right into Buczek's helmet as she was beginning her slide into second. "We always come back in the end," said Brunswick senior Brooke Soworowski, who belted an RBI double in the sixth. "It's just unfortunate it ended that way." Prior to the final out, the Blue Devils had gotten a walk from Lyla Kaye and singles from Abbey Nemec, Addison Compton and Bri Flanigan, with the latter's making the score 7-4 before Buczek made it 7-6. "We finally started seeing the ball," said Flanigan, who finished with two singles. "Our energy was up the whole time. We knew we could do it, but it stinks it had to end that way." Brunswick took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a walk by Compton, bloop singles by Madison Miller and Flanigan and a four-pitch walk to Kaelyn Stolarski, but left the bases loaded when Buczek fouled out and Soworowski took a called third strike. "It really stinks when you leave the bases loaded like that," Soworowski said. "I was hyping myself up after that, saying 'You've got to get a hit; you've got to get a hit.'" Mentor scored five times in the second off Gabby Diligente (3-4), who went 4 2/3 innings and gave up 10 hits, but only three of the seven runs charged to her were earned, including just one in the second. A dropped line drive in center field put two Cardinals on with one out and Mentor took full advantage. By game's end, the Cardinals had 11 hits, with Sophia Smalley (2 singles, double, RBI, 2 runs), Willis (double, 2 RBIs, run), Aubree Colon (double, 2 RBIs, run), Savannah Nero (single, double, RBI) and Gabi Dadante (2 singles, run) leading the way. Brunswick had its share of success against Mentor's Syd Cahill (10-5), who gave up six earned runs, nine hits and five walks while going the distance, with Nemec joining Flanigan with a pair of singles. A walk to Diligente leading off the fifth went for naught when her pinch-runner was thrown out 9-6 after rounding second on a Nemec single. Instead of two on with no outs, there was one on and one out and the next two hitters were retired. After Soworowski's double in the sixth made it 7-2, Lilly Leichliter crushed a ball down the left-field line, but Mentor's Colon made a running, backhanded catch in fair territory to end the inning and keep Soworowski from scoring. Brunswick's bats stayed hot in the seventh, but the Blue Devils fell one run short of tying the game. "I really didn't have a mindset," Flanigan said. "It was whatever happens, happens. I didn't feel under pressure because of the score. We just played our game." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Mentor 7, Brunswick 6 Division I, Northeast 3 District Final BRUNSWICK 100 001 4 — 6 9 1 MENTOR 050 020 x — 7 11 0 WP — Syd Cahill (10-5) 7 innings, 6 earned runs, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts. LP — Gabby Diligente (3-4) 4 2/3 innings, 7 runs, 3 earned, 10 hits, walk, 2 strikeouts. Brunswick (16-11) — Bri Flanigan 2 singles, 2 RBIs, run; Abbey Nemec 2 singles, walk, run; Bella Buczek single, walk, 2 RBIs; Brooke Soworowski double, RBI. Mentor (18-8) — Sophia Smalley 2 singles, double, RBI, 2 runs; Peyton Willis double, 2 RBIs, run; Aubree Colon double, 2 RBIs, run; Savannah Nero single, double, RBI; Gabi Dadante 2 singles, run.