MADISON TOWNSHIP — If she wasn't before, Quinn Patrick is now a firm believer in second chances.
The Lexington freshman was given one and made the most of it during a 6-1 win over Madison that netted Lady Lex its first Ohio Cardinal Conference championship since 2009 and first outright title since 2005.
ALL-OCC SOFTBALL HONORS: Lexington's Makaree Chapman named Ohio Cardinal Conference Softball Pitcher of the Year
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the second and Lady Lex up 1-0, Patrick popped a soft fly ball in foul territory for what should have been an easy out and the end of the inning. Instead, the ball popped out of the glove extending the inning and Patrick proceeded to rip a two-RBI double to right center to give Lex a 3-0 lead.
After letting out a sigh of relief when the pop up was dropped, Patrick refocused and came up with the biggest hit of the game.
"All I think is just hit," Patrick said. "Put something out there that will get everyone around the bases."
"She came out and executed with people on base," Lexington coach Todd Galownia said. "She came up with a huge hit. Her defense has been phenomenal all year and once her bat catches up, she is going to be one special player."
After a walk and an intentional walk to load the bases, senior Kaylie Eichorn blooped a fly ball to right and scored two more as Lex took a 5-0 lead after two innings on five unearned runs. The first run scored after an error with two outs. Twice Madison could have gotten out of the inning unscathed, but Lexington pounced.
"We play fast and make other teams make mistakes and that is what we did," Galownia said. "We want teams to make plays against us and when they don't, we want to chaptalize. We still left a boat load of runners on base but we did what we had to."
Madison (20-7) had 10 base runners and stranded nine of them scoring their lone run in the fifth inning on an RBI bunt single with two outs by Emily Nolan. She ended the day with three hits while Izzy Wamsley and Ashley Markley had one apiece. Layla Azmoun pitched well allowing six runs, but only one was earned, on nine hits with seven strikeouts.
"They played better defense and we made five errors," Madison coach Tim Niswander said. "They got kids home and we didn't. That is it. Tonight, they outplayed us and it is a shame because we have been playing much better than we did tonight. I wanted to send my seniors out with a win at home and hopefully my young kids learn from this. We went from playing the 17th ranked team in the country (Anthony Wayne in the Division I district final on Friday) to being tight tonight."
The Rams finished tied for second in the OCC and graduated seven seniors in Liv Ash, Markley, Nolan, Azmoun, Kendyll Kershner, Kyleigh Reiter and Jillian Conard. Five of the seven were every-day starters so the Rams have some major positions to fill for next season.
"We have to find consistency defensively," Niswander said. "Our young players have come a long way in terms of learning how to play the game. At the beginning of the year, we had to tell them exactly what to do because they had no idea. We got better at base running. We got better. You don't win 20 games without getting better, but we have to get more consistent. They understand the work ethic that it takes. This summer will be very important."
Lexington (27-2) got two hits apiece from Patrick, Kylie Galownia, Eichorn and Kylie Thornton and one from Jillian Morr. Patrick had two RBIs while Galownia and Eichorn had one apiece. Galownia's came in the top of the six, a direct response after Madison plated a run to make it an uncomfortable four-run lead.
Makaree Chapman allowed one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks in seven innings. She had runners on nearly every inning but buckled down to preserve the win.
"Makaree got a little tired but battled through," Todd Galownia said. "She has grown so much as a pitcher in the last year and to have Kylie come up with a big hit in the sixth inning after they scored a run was huge. That put us back up by five and as long as we keep that lead, a grand slam can't beat us."
Lady Lex celebrated with a trophy ceremony outside the fence after the game and received their first OCC trophy since the year Patrick was born.
"I am so grateful to be a freshman on varsity and experience this," Patrick said. "These seniors are such great leaders who pick you up when you are down. They make sure everyone is included so it is special to be a part of this team.
"We practice hard and take no days off. We keep all of our ducks in a row and make sure we don't give it anything less than 100% because we won something."
In 2009, Lex shared the title with Clear Fork, but in 2005, it was all theirs, something Lady Lex was able to repeat 19 years later as no player on the current roster was born the last time an outright OCC softball title came home to Lexington.
"It means a lot," Galownia said. "It is very important to the school. Every administrator was here for us tonight, had our backs and told us to go win it so we did."
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington wins first outright Ohio Cardinal Conference softball title in 19 years
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