By Cort Reynolds
SPENCERVILLE - The visiting Ada softball team came from behind to surpass Spencerville 12-5 in the Northwest Conference and season finale Friday evening.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed by five runs early, but scored in each of their final four at bats to win convincingly.
With the win, the Ada season record finished at 13-12 overall and 2-6 in the NWC. The last-place Bearcat girls fell to 4-17 and 0-7 in league play with the defeat.
"We started out slow today, and then the light bulb went on and we decided we better swing the bats if we wanted to win the game," said Bulldog head coach Rebecca Dicke.
"I don't like to make excuses but we got a late bus and our warmups were rushed, which may or may not have contributed to our slow start," she added.
Dicke also agreed the team may still have been suffering a hangover from the previous night's sectional final loss at Wayne Trace.
On the strength of a four-run third frame, Spencerville led 5-0 after three innings.
"Spencerville came out and hit Dalton pretty hard, they swung at a lot of first pitches and pounded them," Dicke recalled.
"But then she hit her stride and took care of them pretty handily after the third inning," she added.
In the Bulldog fourth Dicke moved from the dugout to coach third base, and the move may have ignited the Ada comeback.
Senior hurler Leona Dalton singled and stole second base. She advanced to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on an error to inch within 5-1.
In the top of the fifth, Ada senior outfielder Tori Green singled with one out to start a big rally. Senior third sacker Kiersten Cortez also singled.
Senior catcher Alexis Waugh drilled a double to bring Green home.
Dalton then smacked a three-run homer over the left-center field wall to tie it 5-5. She consolidated the momentum by striking out the side in the Bearcat fifth.
In the top of the sixth frame, the Bulldogs took control. Junior Lexi White led off with a single. Sophomore Wince roped a line drive, but the Bearcat right fielder made a shoestring catch to rob her of a hit.
"That was a nice grab," Dicke noted.
Sizemore smacked a single, followed by a Green single that loaded the bases. After a strikeout, lefty-swinging Waugh delivered the clutch hit. Her two-out, two-run double broke the tie and put Ada ahead for good, 7-5.
Dalton then lined a two-run single to advance the lead to 9-5. Daicy Robinson followed with a single as did shortstop George, but the Bulldog girls left the bases loaded after a strikeout.
In the bottom of the sixth, Green made a nice catch and Dalton struck out a Bearcat batter to retire the hosts.
In the top of the seventh inning, Ada tacked on three insurance runs. Wince legged out a leadoff triple, followed by a Sizemore single that extended the lead to 10-5. Green singled to load the bases again.
Waugh then drove home Sizemore on a single to make it 11-5. Dalton stroked another RBI single to provide the final run and a 12-5 lead. George again singled, but Ada did not push across any more runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Dalton pitched around an error to strike out the side and end the game - and her Bulldog career - with a flourish.
She also paced the offense. Dalton hit three singles and a home run to drive in six runs, and she scored twice.
Waugh doubled twice, scored two runs and added a single to amass four RBI.
Green singled three times and scored three runs. Freshman Robinson hit a pair of singles, while classmate Sizemore singled twice and scored two runs. Wince contributed a triple and a single.
George contributed two singles as Ada out-hit the Bearcats, 16-5.
Dalton pitched her 23rd complete game of the season and earned her 13th win. She struck out 14 Bearcats and walked none, while allowing four earned runs.
Dalton ends up with 36 wins over her three-year Ada pitching career. She ended up with well over 200 strikeouts for the season.
"I am just real proud of the girls," summed up Dicke regarding the 2021 season. "We had some tough games where we were either ahead or even, but lost. Some of the bigger games we couldn't quite hang or close out, and that is regretful.
"Defense and consistency at the plate were a little bit of a struggle at times, and we started some freshmen against more experienced teams.
"But I also had five seniors, and the girls went out and hustled and did the best they could," she added.
Bulldog seniors Green, Dalton, George, Cortez and Waugh won their final games in an Ada uniform. "They will be hard to replace," Dicke admitted.
123 456 7 R H E
Ada 000 144 3 12 16 2
Svl 104 000 0 5 5 4
WP-Dalton (13-11) LP-Orick
2B-Waugh 2 (A)
3B-Wince (A)
HR-Dalton (A)
Battery mates Waugh and Dalton will represent Ada at the inaugural northwest Ohio All-Star softball game Friday night, May 28 in Vaughnsville.
