PARMA, Ohio — It’s not the start that matters; it’s the finish.
The Olmsted Falls softball team learned that lesson well in their 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Parma in the Division I Parma District semifinal at James Day Park No. 4 on Wednesday evening.
Though the Bulldogs (16-9) found themselves down a run before their first at-bat, they did not let that deter their efforts in advancing to their first district final against the Midview Middies on Thursday afternoon.
"The girls are just so excited because we’ve never gotten this far," Olmsted Falls coach Jim Smith said. "We’ve gotten to the district semis, but we’ve never won one. That’s been their goal. In fact, the goal is not to win today, it’s to win tomorrow. They’re playing well; they’re making wise choices."
Midview moved into the district final with a win over the Parma Normandy Invaders on Wednesday.
Olmsted Falls sophomore pitcher Lauren Franklin was able to settle down after allowing the first two Redmen batters to reach base on bunt singles. She gave up one run in the first, but just three more hits over the remaining six innings. Franklin helped give Parma just its ninth loss of the season.
"We knew that they were going to come out ready to hit, so we had to be ready for them," Parma coach Bridget Brown said. "Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done offensively after that. Their pitcher did a nice job mixing it up a bit. She had our hitters off-balance and we just couldn’t find it."
Even with Franklin’s success despite her lack of varsity of experience, her win was even more impressive when factoring in her catcher, Mary Gorski, is just a freshman.
"All her pitches were working," Smith said. "We threw a lot of off-speed stuff because every now and then, kids can time-up fastballs. Everybody throws fastballs, but all her stuff was working, the drop ball, rise, curve, so we mixed them up. We threw three change-ups to one batter.
"We have great confidence in her and we have great confidence in Mary," Smith added. "Mary’s only a freshman and in fact, she called some of the pitches. She would look at Doug (Young), my assistant to make the call and he only shook her off once."
Once Franklin settled into her game and found a rhythm in the circle, Olmsted Falls tied the game. Gorski singled to left field and drove in Kim Kirkpatrick, who doubled to start the bottom half of the first inning.
"That was pretty big," Kirkpatrick said. "I’m glad I was able to get that run."
"It’s always been our goal, if they put up one, we get at least one back," Smith said. "Whatever they get, we get one, but we always try to get two. That showed us we were right on our game because we came right back and made it a new ball game again."
Olmsted Falls took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when courtesy runner Amanda Abraham scored on a fielder’s choice. Danielle Stamper doubled home MacKenzie Gamary for an insurance run.
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance reporter and sports announcer for WOBL and WDLW radio.
