Tornadoes hold off Blue Streaks for sectional title

Sandusky made almost every Columbian fan, coach and player hold their breath in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally, but in the end the Tornadoes prevailed in a 9-8 Division III sectional title victory.First-year coach Ryan Ottney said the old adage: "It's tough to beat a team three times in a season."That was certainly evident Thursday night."We came out with a good approach with Addie (Smith) throwing strikes, but they put the bat on the ball and put in in play," he said. "We had trouble gauging a couple fly balls there in the beginning, but I thought we made adjustments in the outfield after that. "We played them throughout the season three times. It is difficult to beat a team three times. It really is very hard. I knew they would come here and give our girls everything they got, but our girls responded extremely well. "I'm proud of their effort and during the middle of the game during a key stretch, we did the little things right. That's what we got us into the position earlier in the season winning a bunch of games in a row, we were doing the little things. We were also having fun and I think the girls did a great job of that tonight."Sandusky (8-13) came out strong and aggressive at the plate, going after the very first pitch of the game and it did that a lot during the game, which was effective. The Blue Streaks led 3-0 after the top of the first, but TC (10-13) responded. After an Olyvia Steinmetz walk, Emma Daugherty lined an RBI single to center, Breanna McNutt followed that with a run-scoring double to right field and then with two outs, Corinne Plotts belted a double down the third base line, scoring McNutt and tying things up at 3.After a tough first inning, Smith began to settle in a bit in the circle. She did give up single runs in the third and fourth innings, but limited the damage and got out of some tight jams when she needed to."I thought they fought really hard. It was a back-and-forth game … we've been doing that for like the past five or six games, which has been back and forth, but for a younger team we've been striving to get better and keep trying to get those hits in those key moments," Sandusky coach Phil Jones said. "That's where we kind of lose it a little bit, but we'll get better."I definitely believed in them. They came out strong, the hits … it's just those key pressure moments and that's where we have to grow and I think we will as we keep going," TC added a run in the second inning on a Smith solo home run to center and then tacked on another run in the third on a Plotts long ball."I'm really happy with how we're swinging the bats with confidence," Ottney said. "We're up there with confidence and I thought they had a good approach at the plate and with how they responded after that first inning"The key sixth inning began with a dropped third strike. Emma Blott ran out the dropped third strike as the Sandusky catcher sailed the throw into right field, which happened to get by the right fielder. So instead of the first out for Sandusky, Blott was standing on third base with nobody out in a 5-5 game.Esa Aller was hit by a pitch, Smith then drove in pinch runner Cam Haman with an infield single, Daugherty smacked a RBI single past third base and then McNutt drove in a pair of runs on a error to left field, which gave the Tornadoes a 9-5 advantage. With two outs in the seventh, Sandusky started a serious rally, stringing together five straight hits to get within 9-8, but Smith got Akiyla Jones to groundout back to her in the circle for the final out.Smith went the distance, allowing eight runs (four earned) on 14 hits for the win. There certainly was plenty of offense as the teams combined for 25 hits.The Tornadoes advance to the district semifinals at Willard next Thursday at 6 p.m. to take on Norwalk. TC split the season series with the Truckers with each game being a one-run contest."Now we have a chance to play in a district semifinal against Norwalk, who you beat at home with a walk-off, you lost to them once on a walk-off, so now lets see what happens," Ottney said. "I'm excited about that opportunity next Thursday."