The Elks, with freshman pitcher Caitlyn Belcher also wielding the biggest bat with five RBIs, defeated Massillon Jackson 8-4 in Saturday’s Division I state semifinal. They are, at no shock to themselves, a night’s sleep from playing in the state championship game at 4 p.m. Sunday at Firestone Stadium.
“This has been our goal all along, ever since Wendell came to the program,” said sophomore shortstop Natalie Carr. “It’s amazing that we’re all getting to do it with these seniors. They have worked incredibly hard to get here.”
Hutchinson’s first year was the canceled Covid season. Last year the Elks (18-13) lost in the regional final with a 25-5 record. Now, after entering tournament play at 12-13, they are in their first state final four. The Elks will play a familiar foe, the Lebanon Warriors in an all-Southwest District final.
Lebanon (27-4) survived being no-hit for eight innings by Lancaster star Ashlin Mowery, who is committed to play at LSU. The Warriors broke through in the ninth inning with four hits and won 2-0. They are playing in their seventh state tournament, all since 2012, and still looking for their first championship.
The Elks played Lebanon in their third game and, of course, lost 7-1 to start the season 0-3. Centerville played the first semifinal, so the Elks didn’t know who they would be playing. Either way, they would play a team they lost to this season.
“The next game is our next game,” junior catcher Riley Bakan said. “Our record before postseason is nothing. We’re on a roll right now, and I don’t see what else can stop us.
“We’ve been under pressure, and I think that’s really helped us get to the point we’re at because our team is just so used to playing the good competition, putting that pressure on ourselves.”
The Elks certainly didn’t believe Jackson could stop them, taking control with a four-run third inning to lead 4-0. Following a bases-loaded walk to Chayse Adkins, Belcher’s first hit, a single, made the score 2-0. Lille Hopf followed with a sacrifice fly and Hannah O’Connor lined an RBI double to the fence in left for the first show of power.
“It’s just like part of my job to do as a hitter because I know on defense Caitlyn busts her butt all the time just to help us out,” O’Connor said. “So just to put us up offensively means a lot to me. It’s just my job to do.”
Jackson (21-9) bounced back with a two-run fourth, but hard hits didn’t bother Belcher. She allowed 10 hits but kept pitching to contact and letting her defense do the work. She hasn’t been a strikeout pitcher and didn’t strike out any Saturday. But she didn’t walk any either.
“I just let my defense do most of the work for me,” Belcher said.
Hutchinson said in future seasons it won’t be that way for Belcher. Her low strikeout totals this year trace back to a ligament injury to her thumb in early November. When she was cleared to throw at the start of February, she pulled a muscle in her back on one of her first practice pitches. She was out until the third week of March.
“For her to to be able carry us the way she has, from a pitching standpoint, is remarkable,” Hutchinson said. “Her effectiveness has been because of her teammates behind her and her grit. The combination of the two has allowed a team that doesn’t strike many people out to play good enough defense to make a deep run in the tournament.”
Bakan has had the best view of Belcher’s improvement even though it will be next season before her velocity returns and she has all her pitches working they way she wants.
“Oh, my gosh, it’s night and day from our first game,” Bakan said. “We’ve had a tough schedule, but she’s always stayed competitive in every single game. Each game she pitches, she pitches better, she throws a little harder, little bit more accurate, spins it better. Every game is better. And I love catching for her.”
Bakan wasn’t the only Elk catching for Belcher. Carr and left fielder Morgan Franklin made highlight plays just when the Polar Bears needed a hit.
Carr chased down a flare into shallow left field that looked destined to be a leadoff single. But Carr, who plays outfield on her summer team, came out of nowhere for an over-the-shoulder catch at a full sprint.
“I knew how deep our left fielder was,” Carr said, “and I knew I had to run as fast as I could to get to that ball.”
Hutchinson said Carr has carte blanche on any batted ball.
“She’s allowed to catch any ball anywhere,” he said. “We’ve seen her call off the first baseman, the third baseman, the second baseman, the pitcher just typically runs away, and she’s allowed to run back in left field, center field, right field. Wherever the ball is in the air she can catch it.”
Trailing 4-3, Jackson had another shot at a leadoff single in the sixth. But Franklin charged and made a diving catch.
“Last year we had a pitcher that struck everybody out, and the fielders would get bored,” Hutchinson said. “Now they get to participate all the time. Our defense has gotten better all year.”
Jackson coach Adam Parker could only shrug his shoulders at the defensive gems that stopped his team from keeping pace.
“Leaving runners on bases is unfortunately where we got hung up today,” he said. “Timely hitting always is a plus, and unfortunately we didn’t find those timely hits.”
But the Elks did. After her teammates set the table, Belcher, the cleanup hitter, cleared the table twice. She hit a two-run double to deep center in the fourth for a 6-2 lead. She lined another two-run double to center in the sixth for an 8-3 lead.
One more Jackson run in the seventh didn’t matter.
“It’s an experience that we had been planning for for a very long time,” Hutchinson said. “To actually get here, work the plan the way we did, to have the success that we expected, it’s just very gratifying.”
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