Titans too much for Warriors in 9-2 loss

AKRON – Business remains unfinished for Mohawk.The Warriors couldn't stop a dominant Portsmouth Notre Dame team as they fell to the Titans 9-2 in Division VII state semifinals action at Firestone Stadium on Thursday."Obviously making it to the Final Four is an accomplishment in itself," Mohawk coach Mindy Walton said.The Warriors (26-4) finished their season as Northern 10 Athletic Conference champions, back-to-back regional championship title holders, and have made back-to-back trips to Akron. Aubrey Gottfried has broken records, along with Katie Woodland.For the soon-to-be seniors, they have a combined win and loss record of 70-15."Not moving on tomorrow, which was the goal, it was not met," Walton said. "We had chances early on in the game, runners in scoring positions, and couldn't capitalize on it. We couldn't get the bats out today, and like I told the girls after the game, if you are out-hit, you are most likely not going to come out winners at the end. They had 10 hits compared to our three."Down five runs going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Warriors didn't want to be shut out. After Emily Brickner walked, Woodland came to bat.All Woodland needed was the right pitch and she sent the ball sailing to left field with a triple which drove in Brickner.Gottfried came to bat, and the grounder drove Woodland home while Gottfried was out."Overall, it was a great team victory," Titans coach Shad Ford said. "I'm proud of how our team fought, and got the job done. Coming back this year definitely helped us since we knew the stadium and made it easier."Ava Rush, PND's ace pitcher, allowed two runs on three hits, fanned 13 and had three walks. Gottfried had seven strikeouts, allowed nine runs on 10 hits, and four walks."I thought her change up was great and she threw a lot of outside pitches," Gottfried said. "She pitched an amazing game, and her team did great on getting her the ball. We knew they were returning champs, and they knew what was coming, and they hit their gap."Though that was the only hits Mohawk had, they limited PND to just one hit for four innings, which came on an Alayla Soard home run. The remaining insurance runs came in the top of the seventh inning."I felt like we would have had some more hits there," Walton said. "If we could have plated a couple more people, that would have put the pressure back on them and that would have put momentum back on our side. That didn't work out in that order."The defense for Mohawk that kept the Titans in check came in the fourth inning as Kate Entler flew out to Elyn Hetzel, and Lyndsey Schafer lined one to Emily Brickner. Both of those plays stopped PND from adding more on in a time where the Warriors needed big stops.While it wasn't the ending they were hoping for, all the Warriors will be returning for next season, and that means the experience will have given them lessons to learn.As well as four seniors."I think with all of us returning next year, I think we have a really good shot at coming back again next year," Woodland said.