The Akron area’s brightest, most talented softball players of the 2016 season gathered at Firestone Stadium on Monday to play in the Barney Ellis All-Star Fastpitch Series.
Rivals and teammates, friends and foes came together to showcase their talents and cap the season with a fun series of exhibition games.
These games, intended to be more fun than competitive, pitted the area’s top talents.
“It’s great because you bring a bunch of kids together from a bunch of different teams that compete against each other all year long trying to beat each other, and then they come together and you see the harmony and the smiles in the dugout,” Springfield coach Charles Schrader, who coached the Portage team, said.
While the end of the regular season is wrought with pressure, stress and competitiveness, Monday’s contests assumed a lighter tone in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
“This was more of a fun setting, and we all just wanted to do well because for some of us, it’s our last time in our high school jerseys, so it’s a good way to go out,” Revere pitcher Dana Weidinger said.
Portage Stars 13, City Stars 2
The Portage County Stars scored in every inning except for the sixth to rout the City Stars.
“There wasn’t much we had to do with these girls,” Schrader said. “As much as we strive to have fun, they also want to win.”
Four players for Portage recorded multiple hits, led by Field’s Allison Robinson, who had three hits and three RBI. Ravenna’s Amanda Casciato scored four runs.
“We were just having fun the whole game,” Robinson said. “That’s our main goal.”
The pitching duo of Sammy Eckhart and Megan Cymanski held the City Stars in check, combining for nine strikeouts and surrendering just six hits.
“The team really backed me up,” Eckhart said. “It’s really nice to see the girls not in a competitive setting.”
Portage got on the board in the first inning on an RBI single by Allison Robinson.
They added two more runs in the second on an in infield error and double by Mogadore’s Mariah Huff.
The City Stars narrowed the deficit a bit in the second inning when Garfield’s Ashley Matousek scored on Chloe Weidrick’s RBI double.
Portage notched two more runs in the third on an RBI single and a fielder’s choice.
Errors plagued the City Stars in the fourth inning, when Robinson reached first on a fielding error and then came around to score two batters later on a fielder’s choice and throwing error.
The City Stars committed seven errors as a team.
The Portage Stars inflicted more damage in the fifth, when they struck for three runs capped by a two-run single by Robinson.
The runs for the Portage Stars just kept coming, as the all-stars tacked on four more insurance runs in the seventh.
Suburban Stars 6, Metro Stars 2
Solid pitching and a three-run third inning lifted the Suburban Stars over the Metro Stars.
“I told the girls the game was for fun, but a couple of them said, ‘Well, I’m competitive,’ ” Copley’s Tim Myers, the Suburban coach, said. “We won and we were competitive.”
Weidinger racked up five strikeouts and gave up a run in the first two innings for the Suburban Stars.
She came back into the game in the sixth and posted two scoreless innings.
“It was really tough seeing a couple of people I know on the other side, and I knew they were good hitters, but I tried my best to do what I can,” Weidinger said.
The Metro Stars struck first in the second inning when Manchester’s Erika Bell reached on a leadoff double that found the gap in right-center field, and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The Suburban Stars stole the lead with three runs in the third inning. Barberton’s Kayla Rorrer had an RBI hit to score Medina’s Jessie Holzman, and Highland’s Hanna Griffin smacked a two-run homer to center to tally two more.
The Suburban Stars added another run in the fourth on Hope Yashnik’s RBI triple that slipped through the shortstop’s glove and barely squeaked through the left side.
The Metro Stars cut the lead in half in the fifth when Nordonia’s Hannah Perrine scored Twinsburg’s Brooklyn Benkowski with an RBI single.
The Suburban Stars answered Metro’s fifth-inning rally with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth.
After loading the bases with two errors and a walk, the Suburban Stars pushed across a run when Medina’s Morgan Rittenhouse was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
They added a final run on an error in the sixth.