NORTH RIDGEVILLE – A year ago to the day, the same team won the same district softball tournament on the same diamond by the identical score.
This time, it took a bizarre and dramatic turn of events to make Wellington (21-5) a 1-0 victor over Columbia in a Division III championship game. On May 22, 2008, it was merely dramatic. In each case, it was a game neither team should have had to lose.
Dukes pitcher Cassie Gleisner, who hurled a two-hitter, ran home with the eventual winning run with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Spectators on both sides went home shaking their heads over the deciding series of events.
Here`s how it unfolded.
Columbia pitcher Jen Solanics had faced the minimum 19 batters when Gleisner walked to the plate with one out. Gleisner reached on an error. Catcher Melissa Rennie beat out an infield single and third baseman Callie McConnell reached on a fielder`s choice. That loaded the bases for left fielder Jackie Bankston.
Bankston, facing an 0-1 count, hit a high infield pop-up. With fewer than two outs, the infield fly rule was in effect and plate umpire Chris Opperman called it. Apparently the Columbia infield didn`t realize the rule was in effect and did not hear Opperman make the call.
Whatever the case, the Raiders dropped the ball. In a tizzy over dropping it, they threw home hoping to force Gleisner, who hadn`t moved off third. But the Dukes` Rennie, who was on second, took off for third.
She was just a few steps away from the base when she realized Gleisner was still there and headed back toward second. The Raiders, without having made the force at home, saw a chance to nail Rennie and threw toward second. When they mishandled the ball again, Gleisner went sliding home.
“I was just watching the catcher waiting for the ball to release,” Gleisner said. “As soon as she released, I was on my way home. There was nothing to lose, so why not go?”
“I was just going, trying to be aggressive and make something happen,” Rennie said. “I guess I just took advantage of the error. That play definitely shifted the momentum to our side for the bottom of the seventh inning.”
Indeed it did. Gleisner returned to the circle and retired the Raiders in order. She struck out one and – irony of ironies – got the other two outs on infield pop-ups.
“My defense was awesome,” Gleisner said. “I didn`t have as many strikeouts as I`d like, but W`s all count.”
It counted as the 375th career victory for Wellington coach Tom Roth, who has announced he will retire from coaching at the end of this – his 23rd – season.
“Neither team deserved to lose, but these tournament games get like that,” Roth said. “I mean, how many times do you go down to watch the state tournament and all of a sudden – boom! – and it`s over. You have to give Columbia credit. They did everything they could to win.”
“That was an odd play,” Columbia coach Ken Richardson said. “How many times do you have the infield fly rule and the ball gets dropped? Our players reacted to the runner and there`s a run on the plate. It`s over with that quickly.”
Gleisner allowed just two baserunners – Solanics, who led off the second inning with a single, and first baseman Jenny Kus, who hit a one-out single to center in the sixth. Gleisner struck out three.
For the second straight year, the Dukes advance to the Massillon regional. At 5 p.m. Thursday, they`ll meet either Youngstown Ursuline for a shot at their second straight berth in a Final Four. They were state runners-up in `08.
The currently unranked Dukes lost to No. 6 Columbia (24-5), 2-1, in a regular-season game on May 4. Their win Friday was their third of the season over top-10 teams. In less than two weeks, they knocked off two No. 1 teams, Division I Elyria and Division II Keystone.
The Raiders` Solanics deserved better after hurling a six-strikeout one-hitter. The only hit was Rennie`s and it might have been scored an error. She retired the first 12 batters then walked McConnell leading off the fifth. But Columbia catcher Emily Nagle cut down Jessica Davis, running for McConnell, when she tried to steal second.
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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