Celina to play for state championship

AKRON - There was "can do" spirit all over the place when Celina beat Dover 5-1 in a Division II state semifinal softball game on Friday afternoon.

There was starting shortstop Audrey Harner insisting she was able to keep playing after a third-inning knee injury despite the fact the first time she tried to stand on her injured leg, she stumbled into the arms of the trainers.

There was Allison Braun saying she could go from first base back to her old position at shortstop to let Harner stay in the game by playing at first.

But the fact the Bulldogs (24-3) found a little "can hit" spirit in the last two innings was probably a bigger reason they moved on to play Canfield (22-4) at 3 p.m. today for the Division II state title.

Celina scored all of its runs and had seven of its nine hits in its last two at-bats.

Until then, Dover had held onto a 1-0 lead on the strength of an unearned run and the pitching of Kristen Moreland (six strikeouts, one walk).

But it was a very different story in the sixth and seventh innings.

"I think it was more nerves than anything and being at state," Harner said about Celina's early offensive struggles. "But after a while, we go onto her. It just took a couple innings."

Celina pitcher Laura Homan (19-2) allowed only two hits, struck out six and walked one.

The lone run she allowed came in the second inning when Andrea Larkin reached base on a fielder's choice and scored on Harner's throwing error on a grounder to shortstop by Emily Mills.

Celina threatened in the fifth, when the inning ended with Abbey Zacharias being thrown out at the plate. In the sixth, it erupted.

Harner started the sixth inning by reaching base on a throwing error by Dover shortstop Kaely Stucin. Cassandra Chittum, pinch-running for Harner, went to second on a ground out by Homan and to third on a single by Braun.

Alicia Zacharias then delivered the go-ahead runs with a two-run single. Celina put the game away with three runs in the seventh inning. Harner singled home one run and Homan drove in two with a double to deep left center field.

"We knew coming in they had some good batters. They had a couple of good shots, sometimes that's what you need to get your ball club going," Dover coach Jen Pfeiffer said.

"You can feel momentum shift. I think we had it early in the game. You get to this level and you make a mistake, you have to bounce back from it pretty quickly. We had just that one inning when we looked like we got a little flustered," she said.

Celina coach Nicole Driggs wasn't worried about her team getting frustrated when Harner got hurt very good reason. She knew Harner wasn't leaving the game.

"She is a very emotional, aggressive player. I told the trainer, ‘You're not going to get her off the field, don't even try,' " Driggs said.

Harner confirmed that diagnosis. "I wasn't coming out, I told them there was no way. They tried to make me come out but I told them I wasn't coming out. It was pretty painful but I had to pull through for my team," she said.

The injury occurred when she lunged for a throw on successful Dover steal attempt and her kneecap hit the ground before anything else did.

The only new experience she is up for today, though, is sharing a state championship with her teammates. If she has her way, Harner says she will be back at shortstop.