Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor. South Range pitcher Jayli Wilt (21) and shortstop Keira Brogan embrace after the Raiders defeated South Webster 11-4 in the state semifinal on Thursday.

AKRON — Like it has been all season, South Range’s finely-tuned hitting machine was firing on all cylinders again Thursday.

The high-octane Raiders racked up 18 hits en route to an 11-4 victory over South Webster at Firestone Stadium in Akron to book their spot in the Division III state championship game on Saturday for the first time since 2021.

“I think our confidence comes from our own abilities and the abilities of our teammates and coaches to come through and just get the ball in play and make the other team make mistakes,” shortstop Keira Brogan said of the team’s offensive prowess.

“I definitely think we’re a power-hitting team, and if we need to play small ball, we can get through it,” left fielder Giada Pauline added. “But we just go play with confidence offensively.”

After reaching the state semifinals and coming up short last season, Thursday was a redemption of sorts for the Raiders, as they continue to chase the program’s first state championship in their third-ever appearance in the title game.

“I’ve been telling people all along that we replaced five starters from last year’s team — we had four graduating seniors and we had a junior that decided not to come out, a three-year letterwinner, and it was kind of a shock to us,” head coach Jeff DeRose said. “But we filled that position I think even better than we had, in my opinion. These girls are young, but we’re hungry and eager to bring that first state title home to South Range in softball.”

South Range struck first in the top of the first inning, as back-to-back hits from Brogan and Pauline to open the game led to an early run.

The Raiders put two more runs on the board off RBIs from Jayli Wilt and Ashley Rupert in the top of the third inning, but the Jeeps rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning with three runs off a pair of doubles from Isabella Claxon and Jaiden White.

South Webster then threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth after getting a pair of lead-off hits against Wilt, the Raiders’ ace. But the junior was able to get herself out of the jam with some well-placed pitches that led to three straight pop-up outs.

“I was struggling there for a little bit, but I just had to go back to my basics and remember that no matter what happens, my team has my back and hits will come, runs will come and strikeouts will come,” Wilt said. “I just have to put the ball where it’s supposed to be.”

With the game tied, South Range finally blew things open in the top of the fifth inning. The Raiders scored five runs off six hits, with all of them coming with two outs already on the board.

The Raiders worked their way through the bottom of the order and back to the top, with Ashley Rupert, Solena DeJesus, Kiera Winner, Addison Wardle, Brogan and Pauline each coming up with hits in succession.

“It’s not that I’m not used to it because we’ve done it before, but I was like, ‘when’s it going to happen?'” DeRose said. “It finally happened, so my anxiety level went from (up) here to (down) here, and I felt a little more comfortable.”

After seeing out the threats in the third and fourth innings, Wilt was able to comfortably work her way through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to limit the Jeeps to just one more run.

Meanwhile, the Raiders added to their lead with an RBI double from Rupert in the sixth and another pair of RBIs from Brogan and Pauline in the top of the seventh inning.

Brogan, Pauline and Rupert each finished with three hits apiece for South Range, while Pauline had four RBIs. DeJesus and Heidi Bartels each added two more hits, and each of the 10 players that batted Thursday for the Raiders finished with at least one hit.

South Range’s win sets up Saturday’s state championship showdown with Liberty Union at 12:45 p.m. at Firestone Stadium. The Lions defeated Oak Harbor 6-1 in the first semifinal game Thursday afternoon.

“Because I’ve been here before, the feeling this year has been so different just because we’re such a young group,” South Range’s lone senior Gretchen Bartels said. “I know we’ve had doubts, but I think honestly, our team is a family and we work together. Everybody’s on a high when somebody gets a hit. I think we’re a family and it’s been a huge and exciting ride to get back here and I’m so proud of my team.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.