Amelia Spidell fans 15 as Strasburg-Franklin defeats Gibsonburg 3-1 in Division IV state semifinals
Strasburg-Franklin pitcher Amelia Spidell jumps into the arms of catcher Sydney Sibila as the Tigers defeated Gibsonburg 3-1 in the Division IV state semifinals Friday at Akrons Firestone Stadium
AKRON, Ohio – Amelia Spidell watched as her final pitch of the OHSAA Division IV state semifinal game against Gibsonburg was called strike three to send Strasburg-Franklin to the state championship game, even if that’s not the pitch she wanted to throw.
It was the 15th strikeout of the game for the junior pitcher, who tossed a four-hitter to help Strasburg to a 3-1 win.
“I just do whatever I can to help out my team and they always have my back,” Spidell said. “They have backed me up since we were five years old, so it's the least that I can do for them now.”
Offensively, the Tigers struggled to score, but got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning as Spidell led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. Olivia Spidell then grounded out to score her older sister.
That came after Gibsonburg had a chance in the first inning to score but Amelia Spidell worked out of a situation with two runners on base.
“I just I felt like I didn't come out like my best right out of the gate in the first inning,” Amelia Spidell said. “From that point on after we got that one run I really just wanted to bear down and focus in.”
She struck out the side in the second and retired the side in order again in the third and the Tigers got on the board twice more in their half of the third when Amelia Spidell led off with a double and scored on a triple by Hayley Reiger. Olivia Spidell followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.
Gibsonburg made some noise in the fourth and looked to get back in the game. Opposing pitcher Jenna Bloomfield hit a homer to lead off the inning and Cheyenne Reece followed with a double.
But Amelia Spidell again made the pitches she needed and struck out two of the next three batters around a sacrifice bunt to get out of the inning without any more damage.
“Amelia is a junior now she's been in those situations,” Strasburg head coach and Amelia’s father Tom Spidell said. “She didn't let those two hits bother her. I've seen other pitchers where you give up a couple of hits and all of a sudden, you're struggling a little bit but she never lost command and did what she needed to do.”
As for not wanting the throw the pitch that wound up ending the game?
Tom Spidell had called for it with a 1-2 pitch on Karley Mendoza, but the daughter shook it off. The father threw his hands up and laughed as he turned around in the dugout. After throwing two more pitches that were fouled off, Amelia relented and threw the change-up and it was a perfect one to throw off Mendoza for the called strike three.
“I want her to be confident in what she's going to throw,” Tom Spidell said “I've told her that you can shake me off and that's okay. But then you better make it work. And I really wanted to change up I thought they were primed for it. And then the last pitch, she agreed with me and threw it for a strike, so I guess I won that one.”
Amelia Spidell finished the game allowing just the one run on four hits and walked one to go along with the 15 strikeouts.
Strasburg – the defending Division IV state champions, will try to tie Akron Springfield and Warren Champion for the most state titles with nine when they play Hopewell-Loudon at 5:30 on Saturday in the Division IV state championship game.
“It just it's a great group of kids and just like last year, I'm so happy we're here and don't want to see the season end,” Tom Spidell said. “But tomorrow it's going to end one way or another whether we like it or not, hopefully on the happy side. It’s just been two years in a row that has just been so much fun.”
