Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes South Range seniors Kelly Szolek and Samantha Susany line up for the high-five line following the final out of a 6-1 loss.

AKRON — This time, there was no rally to be had.

In a postseason full of thrilling comebacks and close calls, South Range finally ran into a task too tall in unbeaten Wheelersburg, the defending Division III state champion seeking a repeat.

South Range trailed from start to finish in a 6-1 defeat, ending its season at 26-4. Wheelersburg (31-0) will play Lewistown Indian Lake in the state championship Saturday morning.

“(Wheelersburg) made plays defensively — amazing plays defensively. It took us an inning or two to actually get the bat on the ball, but when we did, (the hits) weren’t exactly right to people, and they just made amazing plays. … I think that was the difference,” said South Range coach Jeff DeRose.

The Pirates were, in fact, stellar on defense. Several would-be South Range hits and runs were stymied as Wheelersburg, and in particular, right fielder Rileigh Lang, made plays to keep the Raiders from mounting any sort of rally.

In the top of the second, South Range’s Jayli Wilt grooved a ball into right field, only for Lang to track it down to prevent a would-be run. An inning later, Lang fielded a would-be single but gunned the runner out at first.

Finally, in the fifth, Lang made perhaps her most consequential out. With runners on second and third, Kelly Szolek smashed a line drive into right field, but Lang made the grab amid a near sprint to end the threat.

That came after the Raiders scratched across their lone run as Anna Aey doubled with one out, and then scored on a single by Ashley Rupert.

Keira Brogan followed with a single — one of her two hits on the day — to put two runners on before Lang made her grab.

An inning later, South Range loaded the bases with two outs, prompting a pitching change by Wheelersburg. Kaylynn Carter replaced starter Andi Jo Howard and worked a four-out outing to preserve Wheelersburg’s victory.

In all, the Raiders left eight runners stranded, five of those between the fifth and sixth frames.

It marked a departure from South Range’s previous victories, all of which came by way of key hits in critical moments and, in the game against Champion, a comeback effort.

“It’s tough,” DeRose said. “We have the team that can (rally from large deficits), especially in the sixth. We had bases loaded, and just didn’t get the big hit. They switched pitchers, and that was a little bit of a mindset change. … We knew about her, she pitched in one of the games I watched. She had a lot of off-speed, and she threw it often. We did what we could do.”

Howard went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run by scattering seven hits and just two walks. She struck out four.

The Pirates’ bats, meanwhile, were hot from the start. Wheelersburg grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the first as Ava Estep led off with a single and scored on a single by Catie Boggs.

In the second, a hit by pitch, single and a pair of errors allowed the Pirates to go up 3-0.

Macee Eaton extended that to 4-0 a frame later as she drilled a pitch over the left field fence to lead the Pirates off, who later added one more on an RBI single by Sydney Skiver.

Finally, in the fourth, Eaton tripled and then scored on a well-executed squeeze bunt by Boggs, who finished with two RBIs.

South Range starter Juli Stachowicz went six innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks. She fanned three batters.

“They hit well — hats off to them,” DeRose said. “We have a hell of a pitcher, and they hit her pretty good. Our defense did step up in some regards, but there were some plays we could have made that we didn’t.”

Now, the Raiders head into the offseason tasked with replacing four seniors — Szolek, Samantha Susany, Stachowicz and Jamie Feren — a group which also played a role in South Range’s runner-up finish in 2021.

“The seniors are going to be so difficult to replace,” DeRose said. “They’re just such tremendous ballplayers … It’s girls like this that make the community want to follow you, because you’re awesome girls.”

Stachowicz said of the postseason run, “It’s meant so much to me. … We lost our freshman year (to COVID), which sucked, but it just showed we could get through anything. We made it here our sophomore year, and yeah it was different our sophomore year, but we still ended up coming back which was great.”

Szolek added, “It was really special to do it in our senior season. We were here as sophomores, so we knew from the beginning of the year that we wanted to be back here. You win some, you lose some, but I’m proud of my teammates, how hard we’ve worked and how far we’ve come. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I wouldn’t trade (my teammates) for a win today.”