CLYDE — After three years of defeat and frustration, Tess Sito and Elyria’s other seniors get a fourth and final shot at a state softball championship next week.
Sito struck out 14 and stroked a crucial seventh-inning double and the Pioneers finally put Oregon Clay to rest, 4-1, on Saturday to win a fourth straight Division I regional championship.
They did it despite surrendering a run for the first time since tournament play began for them
May 13. And the victory, their 27th in 30 games, puts them back in the Final Four. Elyria has been state runner-up three straight seasons.
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, the Pioneers will take on Hilliard Darby to open the 32nd annual state tournament at picturesque Firestone Stadium in Akron. Darby won the Columbus regional championship at Ohio State on Saturday.
“These two days were awesome and I’m very happy that we won,” said Sito, whose record improved to 24-3. “I’ve been dreaming to get to state again. I didn’t know if we could or not because we had the incoming freshmen and people getting hurt. But we made it. We’re there.”
Elyria got a huge regional final from senior first baseman Alesha Mahone, who had two of the Pioneers’ nine hits and reached base in all four plate appearances.
“Every time I went to the plate, I just wanted to hit the ball,” Mahone said. “I was thinking positive and got good hits today. Right now, I feel really happy and excited at the same time. I can’t wait ’til we play.”
Alanna Williams, one of three freshmen in the starting lineup, went 3-for-3, drilled a triple to the gap in right-center field in the seventh inning and scored the team’s fourth and final run.
“She was throwing a lot of dropballs outside and I just hit it as hard as I could,” Williams said of her triple off Clay hurler Kasey Graham. “I was pretty much relaxed at the plate. I just wanted to hit the ball and help my team out.”
The seventh was the high-water mark of Elyria’s tournament season. After leading 1-0 from the second inning on, the Pioneers allowed Clay (24-6) an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth that not only tied the score, but changed the flow of the game. But Elyria recovered with a dramatic three-run seventh.
The rally included Sito’s first-pitch double to right-center with one out that sent Kristen Fyffe home with the eventual winning run.
“When Kristen got on, I said this is our chance right here,” said Sito, who motored into third on the throw to the infield. “I hit the first pitch I think (she did) and it felt so good. It hit the meat of the bat. I saw Kristen touch home and I couldn’t have been happier.”
The rally also saw Sito score from third when Graham dropped the ball as she prepared to pitch to Williams. And Williams responded with her long triple, then scored on Kristen Boros’ single to deep shortstop.
Speaking of Boros, the sophomore shortstop made the defensive play of the game, a leaping catch of a humpback line drive hit by Lindsey Wise and which appeared to be headed for left field.
“I saw the ball, but I thought, ‘I’m not gonna get this, I’m not gonna get this,’” said Boros. “I just went after it and I guess I timed my jump perfect. I was amazed when I caught it.”
Elyria’s first run came after junior third baseman Ashlee Stolarski was hit by a pitch leading off the second inning. Freshman Alyssa Barker sacrificed Stolarski to second, Stolarski moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Fyffe’s sacrifice fly to left field. Danielle Holmes made the catch in foul territory. The Pioneers would not have scored had Holmes let the ball drop.
“I watched as I was running and I saw that she caught it,” Fyffe said. “I was excited I hit it far enough so (Stolarski) could tag up and score.”
It was a big moment for Sarah Bracey, the Pioneers’ senior catcher, who has had big days in Clyde’s Joe Wilson Field.
“It would mean more to me to win state as a senior than all our other years combined, especially since we’ve been there three years in a row,” Bracey said. “To win our fourth year, it would be like the perfect ending to a fairytale.”
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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