Staff Photo/Preston Byers Kylee Lance throws a pitch during Newton Falls’ playoff game against Warren JFK on Monday.
NEWTON FALLS – Newton Falls’ Kylee Lance recorded three RBIs and struck out 10 batters as the Tigers advanced to the Division IV, Northeast 3 softball sectional semifinal with a 12-2 home win over Warren JFK on Monday.
Lance went 3-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI triple, while allowing just five hits and one earned run in six innings in the circle. However, things didn’t start off particularly strong for Lance or Newton Falls.
The Tigers fell behind 2-0 in the first inning after Danielle Wickham, the Eagles’ starting pitcher, singled to lead off the game and ended up scoring on an infield error. Hannah Myers and Samiya Currie also scored in the top of the first inning, with Currie hitting another Kennedy run.
Wickham kept the score at 2-0 through the first two innings, retiring the team in the first and striking out three more in the second.
“You will have those moments when things just aren’t going your way,” Newton Falls head coach Kristina Baker said. “You just have to keep fighting, keep fighting and keep fighting. Eventually you’ll slow down your shots and we played solid defense when we needed to make something happen.”
Just as Lance struggled in the first round, Wickham struggled in the third. Newton Falls’ first two batters in the half inning walked and the third errored out to load the bases. With one out in the inning, Lance tied the game with a two-run single before Abby Wolford tripled to left field to score two more and take a 4-2 lead at the end of three innings.
While the Tigers were in the middle of their big half inning on base, a Newton Falls fan sitting just behind the right field fence blew a horn for the second time. After the first instance at the start of the game, the home plate umpire yelled at the outfield to stop and that there could be no “noise makers”.
When the referee heard the horn again, he expelled the fan from the game and interrupted the dispute until they left. After a delay of several minutes, the fan got into the car and drove about 25 meters away from the field, which was apparently enough for the referee, who resumed the game.
Newton Falls continued to build its lead into the fourth inning, during which Kennedy inserted Addison Owens as a pitcher. After the two batters preceding her in the order walked, Lance singled again to score the Tigers’ fifth run. Later in the inning, Madalyn Knight drew a bases-loaded walk, putting Newton Falls up 6-2.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Lance sparked a run and lots of errors in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff triple. Knight drove Lance into ground out before Ella Downing and Madison Davis singled and Natalee Henderson walked to load the bases.
After the Tigers scored their eighth run on an infield error, an error in the outfield during the next at bat scored three more Newton Falls runs to make it 11-2 and put Kennedy’s season in immediate jeopardy, courtesy of the rule of mercy of 10 runs. In the last at bat of the game, Hanna Wright hit a ground ball and a subsequent error allowed Kirra Howard to score and end the game. With the competition concluded, the ejected fan blew the horn again and several parents joined in honking their horns in support.
Kennedy coach Nicole Day said this season, which the Eagles finished with a 2-13 record, was difficult, with nearly half the team playing the sport for the first time.
“We actually have five girls who have never played before out of the 13 on our squad,” Dia said. “They’ve become really, really good defensively as a whole, and we just need to work on some hitting. … We did a great job with what we had this year. I’m very proud of them.”
After the game, Newton Falls coach Kristina Baker reflected on her team’s rough start to the first round.
Baker commented that the victory was “very important” for the confidence of his team, who had lost six consecutive games heading into Monday’s game.
“When you enter the tournament, I told them, it’s a whole new season,” Baker said. “We learned from our mistakes and what we did right and wrong throughout the season, and it’s time to move on. This is where you can show how far we’ve come.”
With the win, the Tigers will play at Chalker on Wednesday in the sectional final. The winner of that game will advance to the district tournament in Dalton next week.
Do you have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.
