AVON — Like any other American in Iraq, Army Capt. Erik Luca would most likely have preferred to spend his Saturday night at home.
He would have been doubly delighted had he been in the dugout with his Avon Little League Major All-Stars.
For one thing, that’s where he would have been a year ago, coaching the Avon squad and his daughter Maddie. Another is he would have loved the way Avon fought back from a 6-0 deficit to eliminate Elyria from the softball district for players 11 and 12.
Maddie Luca pitched a complete game, striking out six.
“I e-mail (Erik Luca) several times a week, and he’s going to love to get this one,” said his successor, Bill Allen, after Avon’s dramatic 9-8 victory. With the win, Avon kept its season alive, advancing to another must-win game at Tallmadge at 6 p.m. Monday. The season ends for Elyria, which easily defeated Avon 9-3 on Tuesday,
Avon, trailing 7-3 in the fourth inning, rallied for four runs with two outs, the big blow a rocket single by Kaylee Root with the bases loaded. The Elyria outfield misplayed the ball and it rolled to the fence. Rachael Poling, Kayla Wysocki and Erin Cannon all ran home and Root wound up at third. Root later scored on a wild pitch.
Then, with the score tied at 7 in the fifth, Luca walked with one out. She moved up when Poling walked, and they both advanced on a wild pitch. Kristen Root’s infield single sent Luca home with the eventual winner and Poling scored on a wild pitch.
“I was really impressed with the way the girls battled back,” Allen said. “They got down early but they never gave up. I just went through the stats quickly, and everybody contributed in some way. There were no huge numbers for anyone. It was just a very big team effort.”
Kaylee Root had two of Avon’s five hits and two RBIs. Cannon and Emily Rogers each scored twice for Avon.
It looked as though Elyria would run away with the game after a six-run second inning in which 10 players batted. Catcher Hanna Oehlke, who scored one of the runs in the second, scored again in the third after she launch a ringing triple to the left-field corner with two out.
“After that big inning, I thought Maddie was going to have to come out,” Allen said. “But after the team came back like that, it looked like she was throwing even harder than she’s ever thrown before.”
Elyria still had a shot after Morgan McNulty led off the sixth with a single to center. She stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, then made it a 9-8 game when she ran home on Patty Davis’s grounder to the left side. Taylor Woods kept it alive with a single to right. She stole second and went to third on a passed ball, but Luca ended the game with a groundball to the right side.
Woods was the only Elyria player with two hits. Leah Karlie and starting pitcher Carlie Grunda belted doubles.
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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