Gibsonburg falls short in Regional semifinal

BELLEFONTAINE – Gibsonburg had one opportunity to score against Bloom-Carroll standout pitcher Taran Alvelo, but the senior showed why she is the most dominant pitcher in the state, and one of the best in the country.

The Golden Bears had runners on first and third with no outs in the fourth inning, but Alvelo quickly shut the door.

The Bulldogs were able to scratch out enough runs and Alvelo finished strong, striking out the side in the final two innings as Bloom-Carroll won 3-0 in a Division III regional semifinal Thursday at Bellefontaine High school.

The Bulldogs (25-4) will play for berth in the state tournament at noon Saturday back at Bellefontaine.

Gibsonburg made more contact than most teams have against Alvelo, but the Golden Bears were unable to hit it solid. They finished with three hits, including a double by Abbey Cantrell in the fourth inning when they had a big-time opportunity to score.

From that point on, however, Alvelo settled in and only allowed one more base runner — a single in the fifth by Nina Mancha — the rest of the way.

"The deeper we get in the tournament, teams are going to put the bat on the ball, it's just the nature of the game," said Alvelo, who now has 106 career wins and 1,488 career strikeouts. "I really didn't have my legs, so I was just trying to throw more spin.

"I figured they would make contact, but they weren't going to be solid hits, and I trust my defense behind me. As the game went on, I started getting into a rhythm and getting into the flow of things."

Alvelo finished with 13 strikeouts. She struck out nine of the last 11 batters she faced.

"At this point, every team we face they is going to turn the (pitching) machine up and be ready for (Alvelo), and it is going to get tougher as it goes on," Bloom-Carroll coach Choc Woods said. "This game was a grind, and defensively, we did a great job."

Gibsonburg coach Martin Brown said he was proud of his players' approach at the plate against the talented Alvelo.

"Our players went to the plate with a positive attitude and they were focused," Brown said. "We knew she had a lot of speed and we worked on that the last couple of days. We saw the ball well and even though we didn't hit real hard, we made good contact. I couldn't be more proud of the way we played."

Bloom-Carroll took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI double by Kipley Detwiler, scoring Morgan Sells, who had reached earlier in the inning on a fielder's choice.

In the second inning, Hunter Gladman led off with a triple, and it looked as if Gibsonburg pitcher Claire Kirwen, who gave up six hits and had two strikeouts, was going to get out of the inning, but McKenna Coffman had a clutch two-out hit to make it 2-0.

When the Golden Bears (25-6) had runners at first and third with now outs in the fourth inning, Detwiler came up with a huge play. After a bunt was laid down, she was able to get the runner at third in a run down. A pop up and strike out quickly ended the threat.

"Kipley made a great play right there," Woods said. "She doesn't get enough credit for what she does behind the plate. The was a big play."

The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the fifth inning when Sells led off with a single and scored when Alvelo ripped a double of the left fielder's head.

"We are not done yet," Alvelo said. "We still have one more and it's something we have been looking forward to all year. We are getting closer and closer each day to reaching our ultimate goal."

twilson@lancastereaglegazette.com

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Twitter: @twil2323