Big inning propels Archbishop Hoban to 11-0 win over Tallmadge in OHSAA Division 2 district final

CANTON, Ohio — One big inning was all it really took for Archbishop Hoban softball to win an OHSAA Division II district title on Thursday evening, as the Knights took down Tallmadge 11-0.

After Hoban went down in order in the first inning with three strikeouts, the bats came alive in the second inning.

Taylor Gerring led off the inning with a single, and Ellie Hardman and Sidney Conti both worked walks off Tallmadge pitcher Riley Jackson to load the bases. Junior Nylah Durham then stepped up to the plate and delivered a two-run single up the middle to give Hoban a 2-0 lead.

“I am not a very big power hitter,” Durham said. “I was just thinking base hit, a little base hit. I was very excited to get that hit.”

Mackenzie Wood loaded the bases again for Hoban with a bunt single, but the next two hitters were retired and it looked as if the Knights might blow an opportunity to have a big inning.

That’s when Robyn Ryan stepped to the plate. The 5-foot-4 junior doesn’t look like a power hitter and she had not hit a home run all season. But in what might have been the most important at-bat of the season for Ryan, she smacked a grand slam over the centerfield fence to make it 6-0.

“What was going through my mind was just putting the ball in play and making hard contact,” Ryan said. “I was looking for a pitch I could hit, something I could drive, maybe a line drive in the gap but somehow it went over.”

Hoban’s inning was done just yet.

Kennedy Bray and Gerring hit back-to-back doubles and Ellie Hardman hit a triple. Gerring drove in Kennedy and Hardman drove in Gerring to make it 8-0.

That run support was all junior pitcher Faith Porter needed.

She allowed a hit to open the top of the third inning but then retired the top three hitters in the Tallmadge lineup in order to preserve the lead and keep the momentum on Hoban’s side.

“I think they were at the bottom (of the order) and then at the top,” Porter said. “I knew I had to shut the top of the lineup down and just get past them.”

After allowing two hits in the first inning, Porter shut down the Blue Devils by retiring 13 of the last 14 hitters she faced, including the last nine to end the game. She went the distance, allowing just three hits (all singles) and she struck out five.

“I knew I had to calm down a little because I was a little stressed at the beginning,” Porter said. “I knew I just had to throw and do what I know I can do.”

Despite the rough start to the first inning, Hoban coach Kevin Yun knew his pitcher would eventually calm down and put the team in a position to win.

“We always get a little bit of a rocky start and then she settles in and goes from there,” Yun said. “She’s a bulldog.”

Hoban added three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make sure the game would not go the distance but would instead just go five innings under the OHSAAA run rule.

With two outs, Bray and Gerring got back-to-back singles to set the stage for Hardman. The senior didn’t disappoint, blasting a three-run homer to give the Knights an 11-0 lead. As she headed towards third base, she flexed her muscles and smiled, something she wouldn’t normally do.

“I was a little excited because I knew that put us over the 10-run mark,” Hardman said. “I try to be a little more humble than that but emotions got the best of me.”

Hoban finished the game with 12 hits, led by Gerring with three. Bray, Hardman and Durham each had two and Ryan, Wood and Sidney Conti each added one. The Knights also drew three walks, meaning 11 of their 15 baserunners came around to score.

“Coach gave us a stat that we have left a lot of runners on base this year,” Hardman said. “So when girls are up to bat and they see girls on, we know we have to get them in.”

Hoban advances to the regional semifinals at Nordonia High School against an opponent to be named later by the OHSAA.

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