STRASBURG – The pursuit for an eleventh state championship has begun for Strasburg softball.
“The energy and excitement of tournament time is here,” Strasburg head coach Tom Spidell said. “There was a little different feel to the game, but hopefully that continues for us.”
The Tigers began the postseason taking on Malvern on May 11, winning 15-0.
“We came out and did what we needed to do,” Spidell said. “We hit the ball really well and was something we had struggled with a little bit lately.”
At the plate, Strasburg collected nine hits, five walks and saw three players record multiple hits – Haille Argabrite led all players with four RBIs and three hits with one leaving the ballpark.
Coming into this week, Strasburg faced three teams with a combined 53 wins as of May 12: Austintown-Fitch (20-0), John Glen (22-4) and Garaway (21-5).
During these games, the Tigers went 0-3 and were outscored 21-10.
“Sometimes playing close games is more valuable than winning big,” Spidell said. “We know we are going to playing good teams here in the tournament, so we have to prepare ourseleves for those games.”
The Hornets were a familiar team for Spidell, after facing them twice in the last week, winning 21-0 on May 4 and 7-1 on May 8.
“Our team is confident, and they know they’re a good team,” Spidell said. “They know what is what going to take, and they focused and did what they needed to.”
Keeping his team loose during this part of the season is key for success.
“We try and have fun,” Spidell said. “We bring some funny hats into the dugout and do different things to keep them relaxed. We try and keep them loose, but at the same time focused and ready to play.”
The Tigers hammered three doubles and two home runs to jump start the offense against Malvern and on the mound, Miley Reifenschneider, tossed four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven batters.
Madalyn Whalen came in relief tossing one innings and striking out three batters.
After a week full of games, Strasburg will be able to have its first practice in over a week.
“We’re going to be going back to fundamentals,” Spidell said. “Going over different things that we haven’t had time to do. I’m looking forward to that and just continuing to keep things rolling.”
The Tigers will continue their quest toward a state title on Tuesday, May 19, taking on Tuscarawas Central Catholic in the district semifinals at 5 p.m.
Strasburg has defeated TCC twice this season: 11-0 on March 25 and 7-1 on April 11.
Jshondel@usatodayco.com; X: @JacoBShondeL
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Strasburg softball advances to district semifinals, defeating Malvern
