High school softball: Amherst stays in SWC race with victory over Midview

AMHERST — She's been described by opposing coaches as one of the best pitchers in the league.On Monday, junior Karina Shuster proved as much, making sure Amherst remained in the hunt for a Southwestern Conference championship with a brilliant performance in an 11-0 win over Midview on Monday.Amherst (12-7, 8-3), with two wins over Midview (16-6, 10-4), still plays Avon Lake, Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville in league play. Berea-Midpark (13-7, 9-3) has dates with Avon Lake and Olmsted Falls remaining. The Middies have completed their league schedule."I know the conference is at stake and it's important to focus one game at a time," said Shuster, who had a perfect game through 4 1/3 innings. "I knew this game was important. I could tell in warmups it was going to be a good day."Shuster struck out nine and allowed only a bloop single with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Defensively, her teammates had her back. Junior Briana Blankenship, who belted a three-run homer in the second inning, made a great catch in right field in the bottom of the first. Shuster also contributed two hits and two RBIs to an eight-hit attack."The past two games I've been struggling (hitting) a little bit," she said. "Finally, I was able to hit and get runs in. It felt good.""Her last three outings have been phenomenal," said Amherst coach Lacey Reichert. "Even against Elyria (a 2-0, eight-inning loss), she gave up three hits. Against Avon, she shut them down, gave up two hits, and here (Monday), she shut out a good Midview team, a good Midview offense. She's got a lot of confidence going right now and she knows she's going to win games for us in the circle."Amherst freshman catcher Morgan Lymer shook off a two-strikeout day by putting the finishing touch on the run-rule victory in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run blast deep to left.Leah Sprague started the rally by getting hit with a pitch on a 2-2 count and senior Makenna Dorobek, who earlier had an RBI double and a two-run homer to left, walked. Shuster doubled home Sprague with Amherst's ninth run, setting the stage for Lymer's shot."Honestly, you can't lose confidence in your hitting," Lymer said. "It's a big hit. We all hit, we all got on base. It really worked out for us.""We tell the girls 'You can't dwell on one at-bat,'" said Reichert. "Whether you're 0-for-2, 0-for-3, you're going to have another at-bat or there's somebody to pick you up. Trust that, and when we trust each other, and Morgan did a great job, just forget the first two at-bats. She plays three sports. She's been through it. She knows there's going to be failures. There's still game left to be played."Junior Kayla Rhodes drilled a double down the third base line and scored on Blankenship's blast. Sprague singled ahead of Dorobek's home run in the second inning.Lymer praised Shuster."It's amazing," she said. "She's really controlled and makes it easy on me. We've got the puzzle pieces. It's all going to work out.""(Shuster) was pinpoint," said Reichert. "Whether we called a curve, a backdoor, a screw, whatever we called, she didn't miss her spots but maybe a handful of times. When you're around the plate, you're going to get girls swinging."Midview came into Monday's action with five straight wins. Had the Middies been able to beat the Comets, they would have won at least a share of the conference championship."A very competitive and seasoned team," Midview coach Cassie Haight said of the Comets. "They looked amazing. They have some awesome athletes. It was tough competition."Our bats were dead a little bit. I think we were a little too relaxed at the plate. I would have liked to see us be a little more aggressive and our pitching, we just didn't have it."The lone hit for Midview was sophomore Jillian Vandersluis' bloop single to right with one out in the fifth. The Middies only put six other balls in play against Shuster.Savannah Holcomb pitched the first two innings, giving up seven earned runs and a pair of homers. She struck out three.Vandersluis came in to pitch the third inning, striking out the side and fanning four straight batters, but didn't retire anyone in the four-run fifth.Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.