Kim North OVAC CLASS 1A CHAMPS — Weirton Madonna won its third straight OVAC Class 1A softball championship Tuesday at the I-470 Complex. The Blue Dons defeated St. John Central, 7-5.

ELM GROVE — Madonna continued its dominance in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Tom Bechtel Softball Championships Tuesday afternoon.

Head Coach Cris Conti’s talented squad used a four-run first inning en route to a 7-5 victory over St. John Central in the Class A final on windy and chilly Ben’s Field at the I-470 J.B. Chambers Complex. The win marked the third consecutive championship banner for the Blue Dons.

“This is a special group. We only have 10-11 girls on this team and they all play hard,” Conti said of his team which is made up of all underclassmen. “I’m very proud of them for the way they play as a team, and today they played together as a team. When you play together as a team, you’re going to win.”

After Katie Gasvoda retired the Irish (12-5) in order to start the game, her teammates gave her a cushion to work with in their first at-bat.

Sophia Recrosio doubled over the center fielder’s head leading off and Keara Kush walked. With one out, Karly Sutton singled up the middle as Recrosio raced home to make it 1-0. Gianna Mascio singled to load the bases before Kasey Canei singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Kush and Sutton as Mascio went to third. Jaedyn Kush’s fly ball to left was deep enough to plate Mascio for a 4-0 reading.

Both coaches agreed that was the key to the game.

“That was special. I told the girls that we had to score first, and we did. We jumped on them right away. That was the key, I think,” Conti admitted.

Veteran St. John Central head coach Jerry Magistro echoed his counterpart’s thoughts.

“We gave them the four runs in the first inning. They had some good shots, but they also had a few that we shouldn’t have let happen,” he recalled. “When you get behind a team with someone like her (Gasvoda) pitching, it’s hard to come back, but our kids have done that all year and they did it again today. We hit the ball. That’s one thing I can say about my kids, we were really ready and prepared and they worked hard.

“I can’t be any prouder of them. They hit some pretty good shots off a pretty good pitcher.

“Did she give up five runs all year? I don’t think she did,” Magistro said of Gasvoda. “We just needed a couple of timely hits and we could’ve tied it or won it.”

Gasvoda struck out 11 and walked just one. She scattered seven hits and didn’t allow a base hit until Taylor Lowe’s infield single to the hole at short leading off the fourth.

“Katie pitched an excellent game,” Conti said of his junior ace inside the circle. “I give a lot of credit to her, but I also give a lot of credit to my catcher, Jaedyn. She’s only a freshman and she called the entire game. She called an excellent game. Catchers don’t get a lot of credit for anything, but she did a very good job.”

The Blue Dons made it 5-0 with an unearned run in the second. Makayla Sole doubled leading off and scored when Recrosio’s single was misplayed.

St. John Central sliced into the deficit with two runs in the fourth. After Lowe’s safety, Jenna Sawinski singled up the middle. Kate Lovinski’s fly ball to right moved Lowe to third. Gille Johnson followed with a single to right that scored both runners.

Recrosio tripled with one out in the bottom of the fourth. She missed the cycle by a home run. She did, however, score three runs, including the sixth tally on Keara Kush’s infield single.

“She’s the prototypical leadoff hitter,” Conti said of the left-handed hitting Recrosio. “She gets things going for us, but up and down the order everybody hit the ball.”

The Irish drew to within 6-5 in the fifth as Rachel Zaccirey doubled to right leading off. With one out, she would race home when Madison DeLuca reached on an error. DeLuca would make it 6-4 as she raced around on Lowe’s double down the left field line. They pulled even closer in the sixth when Zaccirey’s high popup in the infield went for a wind-blown RBI single, slicing the margin to 6-5.

However, Recrosio walked with two outs in the bottom of the inning. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball. She would score on the third Irish error.

Conti was not hesitant to throw out the word “dynasty” in describing his team.

“Not at all. This gives us some momentum going into the sectional (tournament),” he said. “This was one of our goals, but another is to get to the state tournament. We all want to get there. I’ve been coaching 24 years and I still haven’t been there.”

Madonna 7, St. John Central 5

St. John Central 000 221 0 — 5 7 3

Madonna 410 101 x — 7 10 3

ST. JOHN CENTRAL: Lovinski (LP, 5K, 2W) and DeLuca; Lowe S, D, RBI; Johnson 2S, 2RBI; Zaccirey S, D, RBI

MADONNA: Gasvoda (WP, 11K, 1W) and J. Kush; Recrosio S, D, T; Sutton S, RBI; Mascio 2S; Canei S, 2RBI; J. Kush SF, S, RBI; Sole D