Young loses no-hitter in 7th as Eagles topple Avon Lake, 8-2

All was going according to script for Avon in the first few innings of Wednesday’s softball battle between the Eagles and visiting rival Avon Lake.

The hosts plated eight runs in the first three innings and star pitcher Maria Young allowed just one Avon Lake player to reach base on a walk.

But then Mother Nature entered the picture with a passing thunderstorm that forced the game to be delayed 40 minutes. Coach Jason Ochs wasn’t entirely pleased with how his team played after the delay, but Young continued to excel and Avon came away with an 8-2 victory to move to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in Southwestern Conference play.

Young pitched a complete game and didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning. She lost the no-hitter with one out on a two-run triple by Addison Dunleavy to deep left field, following a walk and an error.

“I was disappointed, but then you just have to swipe it and move on,” Young said. “That’s when I struck out the next batter. You just can’t let it affect you.”

In fact, the sophomore struck out the next two Avon Lake batters to end the game, giving her 14 strikeouts compared to just two walks for the game. Young is now 4-4 on the season with an earned run average of 2.45.

“We have two pitchers with Maria Young and Jordyn Smith that we believe are elite, and they both work very hard on the mental aspect of the game,” Ochs said. “One thing we’ve talked about is seeing every pitch and believing in your defense. Don’t try to do it all yourself. You have a defense out there, so just be loose and relaxed. Maria is as good as they come.”

Ochs said he was planning on taking out Young during the game until he realized she hadn’t allowed a hit.

“We were originally planning to make a pitching change earlier in the game, and then we saw that we had a no-hitter going,” he said. “We wanted to keep that thing going, and to give up the first hit in the top of the seventh, that’s a tough pill to swallow. But that’s the reason we didn’t make the change.”

It would have been logical to remove Young after the rain delay, but she returned to the mound stronger than ever, striking out Avon Lake’s number 2-3-4 hitters in the fourth inning and then the No. 5 hitter to start the fifth.

“(After the delay) I was warming up with my catcher on the side, and I just wanted to stay in the zone,” said Young. “When I got out there, I just thought the same thing I did in the beginning of the game. You know, do what I can and throw strikes and play my game.”

Avon’s offense was led by Averie Reichert, who had two hits, including a two-run triple to right center in the first inning. Michaela Jankowski also had two hits, scored twice and knocked in a run. Jenna Smith, Katie Heilman and Young each added one hit and one RBI for the Eagles.

“They came out and they did what we expected our girls to do,” Ochs said. “We have a lot of talent, we’re developing experience. They work exceptionally hard as a very unselfish group. Our goal is always to get on base, move base runners around and put pressure on them. Obviously, we have some work to do with baserunning, but we want to run, run, run. With our lineup, we can make contact with the best of them.”

However, Ochs, a longtime assistant football coach at Avon, chastised the team after the game for a lack of energy following the rain delay.

“One thing I can tell you from being with coach Mike Elder for so many years is how hard you have to play to get wins in the Southwestern Conference,” he said. “I just don’t think we maintained that whole level throughout the whole thing. We need to use this as a teachable moment, so they understand how to finish games.”

The Eagles are scheduled to be on the field again Thursday at Elyria for another SWC matchup.