ASHLAND — She is billed as one of the premier pitchers in the Midwest and Triway’s Carter Wachtel didn’t disappoint Friday at Brookside Park.
A sophomore right-hander, Wachtel struck out 17 in a 3-1 win over Madison in the marquee game of the 29th Wendy’s Spring Classic at Brookside Park.
Triway was the Division II state runner-up last spring, while Madison reached the Elite Eight.
Wachtel took a no-hitter into the seventh before surrendering a two-out, run-scoring single to Emma Stankovich. She threw 104 pitches, 72 for strikes.
“I was working my curveball a lot on the outside corner, seeing how much I could get. I would also come back in with my screwball,” Wachtel said. “My rise ball or my changeup is my go-to, so if I needed to I would come back with something high in the strike zone.”
As dominant as Wachtel was, Madison gave itself a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh. Olivia Schulz and Reagan Hayes both reached on errors before Stankovich delivered her RBI base hit, bringing slugger Bailey Lyons to the plate as the potential winning run. Wachtel was able to retire Lyons to end the game.
“We had to face one of the best players in the Midwest, not just in Ohio, on the mound,” Madison coach Tim Niswander said. “Carter just kind of owned us until the end of the game.
“We get runners at first and second in a 3-1 game with the kid who has the single-season record for home runs in school history (Lyons) up, it’s an all-or-nothing shot and we’ll take it.
“All-in-all I’m not even a little disappointed in the way we played. I thought we played really well.”
Triway scored a pair of runs in top of the first, which proved to be more than enough for Wachtel. The Titans added an insurance run in the fifth.
Triway shortstop Hailey Massaro, an Ohio State recruit, knocked in a pair of runs. Wachtel, Emily Yacapraro, Haylee Pruitt and Katie Hoffa each had a pair of hits for the Titans.
Triway will play Loudonville at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at Cahn Grove Park in the Red Pool championship semifinals. Madison returns to action Saturday against Elyria at 10:45 a.m. at Loudonville High School.
“I thought we played really well,” Niswander said. “We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish by coming over here.
“Hopefully, we’ll see them again down the road and we’ll be better prepared.”
