Warriors heading to state for 1st time since 2005

BOWLING GREEN – The past two tournament wins for Mohawk have both been come-from-behind wins in the seventh inning. Friday in a Division VII regional final at Bowling Green State University, it didn't wait so long. The Warriors pounced on the Ayersville Pilots with three runs in the first inning and tacked on a couple more as they dropped Ayersville 7-1 to claim their first regional title in 20 years."It's just exciting. It's my senior year and we hadn't made it past districts before, so it's crazy," Mohawk senior Trenna Johnson said. "I'm just really excited for our team. We've been playing really well and I hope we can make it the rest of the way."Back in 2018, the Warriors made the trip to Firestone Stadium in Akron, but it was for a regional final game. This time, it's different."The first year I coached we made it to the regional where the games were in Akron, but we lost to Hillsdale 3-0 in the regional final, who ended up winning the state championship," Warriors coach Mindy Walton said. "Miranda Walton was on that first team with me, so it's great to make it back."The Warriors (25-5) didn't wait to make their mark Friday night as after a scoreless top of the first, Mohawk tallied the three runs in the bottom half. Emily Brickner drew a leadoff walks, followed by a Mallory Brickner single to left. After Pilots' pitcher Kendra Waldron got a strikeout, sophomore Aubrey Gottfried lined a single to left field to score Emily Brickner and then the throw back into the infield got away from the third basemen, allowing Mallory Brickner to score. Then Gottfried was aggressive on the basepaths drawing a throw from the catcher to third, which got away and she slid home safely to make it 3-0 Warriors."It really helped me out a lot because the two games before we waited until the seventh inning to score, but today we got on the board early," Gottfried said about the fast start. "But, you can never stop scoring more runs because you never know when they can come back.Walton added: "We knew we wanted to make (Waldron) throw a bunch of pitches," she said. "We knew watching her against Calvert in those 3-1 or 3-2 counts, she was throwing high or jamming you inside, so we had to lay off the high pitches and keep fouling things off."Mohawk plated a run in the third as Gottfried singled to left, she was then moved over by a bunt from Blake Miller and with two outs, Anna Russell lined an RBI single to right.Mallory Brickner belted a double to left field to begin the fifth, but then after two outs, Miller was hit by a pitch, Allison Russell walked to load the bases and then Johnson hit a high chopper to second base, which was not handled well and Johnson beat the throw, scoring a run.Mohawk scored its final two runs in the sixth as Emily Brickner tripled to center, Mallory Brickner brought her home on a sac fly to right, Katie Woodland laced a double to left and then Gottfried drove her in with a single to right. Overall, in the circle and at the plate, Gottfried was a menace for the Pilots (18-5).She gave up just one run – on a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh – on four hits in a complete game. She struck out nine and only walked two on 106 pitches."I talked about her mental game really flipping a switch this year because nothing really rattles her and if it does, she doesn't let it show," Walton said of the stellar sophomore. "That's what pitchers have to be able to do, which is be stable in that aspect. She worked really hard in the offseason to perfect some of her pitches and we're seeing that."The Warriors will take on Monroeville (26-2) Wednesday in a state semifinal in Akron at 3 p.m. The two were supposed to play this season, but the contest was rained out. "Really, we just need to relax, play our game and have fun because if we do that, we'll be OK," Gottfried said. Johnson added: "We just need to go there and relax, play how we have been playing. If we play how we have been playing, I think we have a good chance."