Early mistakes cost Monroeville in final

AKRON — As the collective roar from the other side let out, Taryn Tyler bowed her head in the on-deck circle. One more at-bat in the storied career of the Monroeville senior eluded her and the Eagles in Thursday's Division VII state championship game loss, 9-1, to Portsmouth Notre Dame. In a tale of two half-innings, longtime head coach Abe Helmstetter could only remove his hat and rub his head from the top step of the dugout in front of 2,726 in attendance at Firestone Stadium. For the second straight year, a clean finish eluded the Eagles. A year ago, Monroeville fell behind Strasburg-Franklin early in a 10-0 loss in the state title game. Thursday night, Monroeville committed two errors and allowed three runs in the top of the first inning despite the softball never leaving the infield. The No. 2-ranked Titans (28-3) scored five runs in the top of the first, then didn't allow the No. 8 Eagles (27-4) to score with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. All told, Monroeville committed five errors, which was nearly as many hits as the Titans had (7). "It wasn't meant to be," Helmstetter said. "We made some mistakes there, and championship softball, you have to try to minimize them. "We seem to have that error bug there in the beginning, and they grabbed the momentum. I said this last year, but momentum is real and it was definitely in their favor from the start." On the second pitch of the game, Notre Dame's Maddie Entler hit a deep triple to right-center field, and the Titans were in business. Alayla Sword then drew a five-pitch walk, and the game then quickly got away from the Eagles. Katie Entler hit a shallow infield fly over the head of Monroeville starter Veanna Helmstetter that the rest of the defense couldn't get to. But on the throw to first to try and get one out on the play, the throw sailed wide and two runs came around to score. The very next play, Maycee Ford hit a medium deep fly ball to center that was also misplayed, and the Titans quickly had a 3-0 lead with nobody out. Audrey Bach then delivered the final blow, a two-run single to make it 5-0 after the top of the first. "They were crowding the plate and it was a challenge," Veanna said. She allowed seven runs on five hits, but just one earned run in 3 1/3 innings. "They are a good hitting team," she added. "I don't know what else we could have done. We did the best we could." Monroeville had a chance in the bottom half of the first to answer, but just missed. Veanna drew a nine-pitch walk and Taryn Tyler added a single up the middle to put runners on first and second with one out. But Notre Dame starter Ava Rush was able to get a strikeout, then after Avery Rosser singled to load the bases, she was able to induce a ground ball out off the bat of Rachel Fries to end the inning. "We weren't too amped up, but we were too nervous at the plate," Rosser said. "Even when we got something going, we just couldn't finish or get the momentum going in our favor." Notre Dame added a pair of runs in the second and fourth innings, respectively. The Titans added on with two more in the top of the sixth. "That fighter's mentality to get that first punch," Notre Dame coach Shad Ford said of the first inning. "And they helped us out there and threw it around a little bit. It was nice to be on that side of it today. "It's a funny game, and to score those five runs and come back in with the bases loaded and get out of it with no runs was huge. We just couldn't get away from what we were, but that first inning was huge, and we took it and ran with it." The Eagles scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth. Madi Reiber led off with a double, then went to third base on a passed ball. Rosser then grounded out, allowing her to score. The Eagles had eight baserunners in the loss, and struck out nine times against Rush. Tyler had a pair of hits for Monroeville, giving her 60 for the season. "It all starts with baserunners, and we just couldn't get them around and didn't play like we have been playing," Tyler said. Monroeville became the first program from Huron County to win a regional championship, which it did in each of the past two seasons. Taking it further, the Eagles reached the state title game in consecutive years. Over the course of four seasons, the senior trio of Veanna Helmstetter, Rosser and Tyler helped produce a 94-23 record, good for a .804 winning percentage. Monroeville also won three Firelands Conference titles along with the district and regional championships. This season was also a new record for wins in a season. "They definitely have set the standard," coach Helmstetter said. "That wins record is going to be tough to top. Their leadership, and just their structure and stability they provide … I'm very grateful to coach these three. They are truly going to be missed." Added Tyler, "This was huge for our tiny school that we got to experience something like this. Seeing all the support we got from the village and all the younger girls who were cheering us on means the world to us." Portsmouth Notre Dame 510 102 0 — 9 7 1Monroeville 000 001 0 — 1 5 5 WP: Rush. LP: Helmstetter 2B (ND) Lyon 2; (M) Reiber. 3B: (ND) M. Entler. HR: (ND) K. Entler