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WHEELING - It took second-seeded Frontier six innings to get the bats going Monday afternoon, but when coach Eric Rinard's Cougars did get them going they didn't stop.
After collecting just four hits through the initial five innings, Frontier (8-6) strung together nine hits in the deciding sixth inning while pushing across 10 runs against a stunned Madonna squad in an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class A semifinal softball game.
Winning pitcher Kaycee Berentz scattered four hits, fanning six and walking two, and plated the go-ahead run in the home-half of the sixth with a base hit as the Cougars rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to post a six inning 13-3 victory over the Blue Dons on Lisa's Field at the I-470 Sport Complex.
Key hits were the deciding factor in the contest, the ones that Frontier was able to get and the ones that Madonna (7-9) never found.
The Cougars advance to the small-school championship game where they will battle No. 1 seed Conotton Valley.
Things could not have started much better for coach Jason Backel's Madonna squad, while they also could not have begun much worse for Frontier in the top of the first.
Chloe Orecchio got things going for the Dons with a lead-off double and quickly stole third. Orecchio scored the game's first run when Carmela Pulice reached on the first of two Cougars' errors in the opening frame. After a strikeout Pulice scored on losing pitcher Kendal Ryan's fielder's choice before Rylee Birkheimer's double plated the third run while she was thrown out at third to end the inning.
Frontier got one back in the home-half when Jamison Schmidt reached on a two-base error and scored on Macie Gilkey's RBI single.
Madonna loaded the bases with no one out in the third and their 5-6-7 hitters due up, however, Berentz and her Cougar teammates were able to get out of the jam with no harm done.
The Dons weren't as lucky in the bottom of the third as Savannah Offenberger reached on a one-out single just ahead of a long Schmidt home run over the left field fence that knotted the count at 3-3.
With the score still tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth the Cougar bats were about to come to life.
Keeley Barrows started things with a double and came around to score the go-ahead run when Berentz ripped one straight up-the-middle off the pitcher's leg for a run-scoring single.
An Alexa Allen base hit, and an error, put runners at second and third when Gracie Mendenall singled to left, only to have the ball get past the left fielder for a three-base error with all three runners scoring to push the margin to 7-3.
Kate Congleton launched a long, two-run homer later in the frame while Berentz had her second run-scoring hit of the sixth, a double, that made it an 11-3 count a short time later. Mendenhall's two-run single plated the final two tallies as the Cougars began their celebration to cap things off.
Barrows had three hits for Frontier with Gilkey and Berentz each collecting a pair with two RBI apiece.
Regular Season
Indian Creek 9, Wheeling Park 2
WINTERSVILLE - The Redskins (15-3) took advantage of half-a-dozen errors by the Patriots (17-9) in gaining the victory.
Trinity Taylor struck out 12 and drove in three runs with a single and double for Indian Creek.
Summer O'Bryant had an RBI single for Wheeling Park.
Union Local 12, Bridgeport 11
MORRISTOWN -- Junior Lauren Miller hit a bases-loaded double to fuel the Jets to a stunning, come-from-behind win over the Bulldogs Monday.
Union Local scored eight times in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the win.
Ella Pietranton was the winner in the circle and she also had a RBI single. Laken Vinskovich had a triple and two RBI, while Hallee McGary, Mya Martin and Izzy Bashline each had two singles and a RBI.
Roawn Herman had a single, double and four RBI for the Bulldogs, while Hanna Brewer had two singles and a RBI.
River 10, Paden City 0
SARDIS -- River's Ava Wohnhas did it with her arm and bat Monday afternoon in a five-inning blanking of Paden City.
In the circle, Wohnhas spun a no hitter with nine strikeouts. She also had a single, double and drove in two runs.
Rylee Knight had a single, double and RBI, while Reese Hobbs and Emma Reed each had a double and two RBI.
Harrison Central 6, Bellaire 2
CADIZ -- Harrison Central picked up a pre-OVAC tourney tune-up victory by holding off Bellaire on Monday.
Emma Skinner was sharp in the circle with 12 strikeouts and nary a walk.
Offensively, the Huskies received a triple from Maddy Butler. Olivia Tonkovich, Katy Banal and Aubry Wood each had a RBI single. Brooke Heavilin had a double and a single.
Lizzie McAninch led the Big Reds with a triple, single and RBI.
Martins Ferry 18, St. Clairsville 5
MARTINS FERRY -- The Purple Riders completed the season sweep of the Red Devils by utilizing a pair of eight-run innings.
Ella McFarland got the win in the circle and she had a single and two RBI. Kaylynn Zinn had a double, single and two RBI, while Abby Snedeker had a double, single and a RBI. Larnyx Goff had two singles and four RBI. Taylor Bell and Riley Doyle both drove in a run with a triple and double, respectively.
The Red Devils, who were guilty of 10 errors, received a double, single and RBI from junior Rachel Finnical and a pair of singles and a RBI from Abby Salisbury.