Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. Champion's Sam Strock (left) and Maddie Sylvester (right) celebrate on Wednesday after their regional semifinal victory over Norwayne in Berea.

BEREA — Facing two of the state’s best pitchers in back-to-back games is not a challenge for the fainthearted.

Creston Norwayne was up to the test in the district final last week, as the Bobcats upset Georgia Tech commit Carter Wachtel and Wooster Triway.

But on Wednesday, Penn State commit Gabby Gradishar and Champion proved to be Norwayne’s undoing, as the Golden Flashes cruised past Norwayne 11-2 in the Division III regional semifinal at Roehm Athletic Complex in Berea.

According to a report in the Wooster Daily Record, Norwayne brought in former ace and current Ohio State pitcher Kennedy Kay to pitch to its hitters to prepare for what they would see against Wachtel and Gradishar.

“It showed they have respect for our pitcher. They had a lot of respect for the Triway pitcher, and they had respect for (Gradishar),” Flashes coach Cheryl Weaver said. “When Gabby read about that, she was fine. That’s fine, you just gotta carry yourself and still believe in what you’ve got. So (Gradishar) did, and the rest of the team did too.”

Despite Norwayne’s preparation, Gradishar plowed through the Bobcats’ lineup. She finished with 16 strikeouts, which included striking out six of the first seven batters she faced across the first two innings.

“I took it as a sign of respect, knowing the kind of pitcher I am,” Gradishar said of hearing about Norwayne’s prep. “But I have my defense behind me, so I wasn’t scared. I just went out and threw my game. … I was just keeping the batters off balance, throwing all my pitches and really working my spots.”

Gradishar looked to be well on her way to another complete-game shutout until she ran into a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning.

She walked the first three batters of the inning, which loaded the bases. Then, back-to-back sacrifice flies to right field from Anna Metsker and Abby Workman scored Norwayne’s only two runs of the game. Still, Gradishar was able to get out of the inning with a strikeout to finish things off.

“I was really just taking it one pitch at a time,” Gradishar said. “It really gets the weight off my back knowing that we had a few runs to just help us keep pushing and playing our game.”

Offensively, the Flashes overwhelmed Norwayne with their firepower, scoring 11 runs off 13 hits.

It took a couple innings, but once Champion adjusted at the plate, the runs started pouring in.

Bella Meyer’s two-run double got things started for the Flashes in the top of the third inning, then Maddie Sylvester and Addie Warzala each batted in a run in the top of the fourth, with Warzala’s coming off a triple.

But it was Sam Strock that carried the bulk of the offense for the Flashes. Despite struggling in each of her first two at bats — striking out both times — Strock blasted a solo home run over the centerfield fence in the top of the fifth inning.

“In the beginning, I was a little bit nervous and I was trying way too hard to get that home run,” Strock said. “So my coaches and my teammates were just telling me to chill out, just relax and make contact. I focused on that and just took that rocket to center field.”

After that, Strock hit a two-run double in the top of the sixth inning that was part of a five-run inning for Champion that helped blow the game open. Strock finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Sylvester, Warzala, Meyer and Hailey Householder each also finished with two hits apiece.

“Every time we went up to bat and someone struck out or they hit the ball and got a groundout or something, we came in and we talked to each other and told each other what was going on at the plate for them,” Strock said. “We just used communication to get into the mindset and just make contact and that’s all we needed.”

Champion’s win sets up a Division III regional final rematch with South Range on Friday at 5 p.m. at Roehm Athletic Complex in Berea. The Raiders won the first semifinal game on Wednesday 10-2 over Massillon Tuslaw.

Last season’s 8-4 regional final defeat to South Range in eight innings has the Flashes thinking redemption.

“It seems like it’s always South Range that we run into,” Weaver said. “They’ve taken us out too many times. So our goal this time: let’s take it from them. … When you’re in the Tri-County area (Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana), and have to face somebody (local) in the regional final, that’s always tough because you want to root for your area, but I can’t root for them now.”

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