Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. Boardman's Addie Rudge (left) and Tori Strines (right) react after Rudge's RBI sac fly tied the game on Saturday against Louisville in the Division III northeast regional final at Kent State's Devine Diamond.

KENT — For three straight years from 2009-11, Boardman made it to a regional final — falling short each time in close, heartbreaking fashion.

Now 14 years later, the Spartans are finally regional champions once again.

Despite not recording a hit until the fifth inning on Saturday, Boardman finally got its bats going in the sixth inning. The Spartans then rallied to score three late runs to beat Louisville 3-1 at Kent State’s Devine Diamond to capture the Division III northeast regional championship, their first regional title and first state final four appearance since 2002.

It continued a season of history-making milestones for the Spartans. First, Boardman won at least a share of the conference title for the first time in more than 20 years. Then it won its first district title since 2011 and now its first regional title since winning three straight from 2000-02.

“It’s just been so surreal. This ride’s been incredible. It’s what you dream of when you coach this game that you love so much,” head coach Fred Mootz said. “When I took this job six years ago, it was about coming and trying to change the culture and make it a winning culture. We’ve obviously built that here, and also a culture of caring more for each other than you do for your own success. When you can do that and you have kids that will buy into that, this is the result.”

Last year, Boardman went 13-13 with a very similar roster that consisted of almost the same lineup that it put on the field against the Leopards.

The Spartans ended that season with a 16-14 loss to Uniontown Lake in the sectional final that left a bitter taste in their mouths. That loss gave Boardman a boost of motivation that they carried into the offseason.

“These girls worked so hard and so tirelessly in the offseason and in the winter to put us where we are right now,” Mootz said. “Injuries did play a little bit of a role in that last year, but we bought into our offseason training, our preseason training and our speed and agility (workouts) to keep our bodies in good shape to be able to stay healthy all year long.”

The way that Boardman came together in the offseason was a testament to the “winning” culture and “team-first” mentality that Mootz and his coaching staff have worked to foster since they took over the program.

Then coming into the year, with all the talent and experience it had coming back, the Spartans felt they had the makings of something special.

“I’ve always known we could (do this),” senior third-baseman Alex Ward said. “It was just a matter of proving it to ourselves. I think in the offseason, we really found that spark and we took it and ran with it.”

An early-season loss to North Canton Hoover proved to be an eye-opening moment and was a stark reminder of how the Spartans felt at the end of last season.

They didn’t want to feel the same way again, and Boardman proceeded to rattle off 25 wins from there this season.

“I saw how much it affected the girls,” Mootz said. “The mentality was, we don’t want to feel that way this season, and we’re going to do something about that. We’re going to continue to improve in practice, we’re going to continue to improve in our lessons and that did that.”

On Saturday, Louisville scored the game’s first run in the first inning with an RBI single from Katelyn Miller. However, the first few innings against the Leopards were similar to the last few innings of Boardman’s regional semifinal win over Tallmadge.

Quick pop-outs and infield grounders led to short innings, and heading into the fifth inning, the Spartans had yet to record a hit.

But that all changed in the sixth inning when senior Tori Strines struck a double to the right-field fence. Strines powered through a long at-bat that included her fouling a ball off the ground into herself, which caused her to double over in pain.

“I just knew I had to be there for my team,” Strines said. “Battling that ball of myself just gave me more energy to get going, and it just happened, and when it happened, it felt great.”

Senior second-baseman Ava Freeborough then reached on a single that advanced Strines to third base, and freshman catcher Addie Rudge hit an RBI sac fly that scored Strines and finally tied the game for the Spartans.

“Honestly, I went up with a lot of confidence there, and I know when you pass the bat, good things happen,” Rudge said. “I knew that Tori and Ava had gotten it done before me and all I needed was to get a ball down to get Tori home.”

Ward hit the go-ahead run earlier in the week in the semifinal and she did it again versus Louisville, hitting an RBI single to give Boardman its first lead, 2-1.

“It’s kind of cliche, but we all kind of realized that this really could be it, and we all realized that we needed to dig down and find it within ourselves to come back on top,” Ward said. “(Louisville pitcher Miller) was hitting that outside corner all game. I just had to go with it, go with what I can, trust myself and let it all unfold.”

After Strines pitched another quick, scoreless inning, the Spartans were just three outs away.

Boardman added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI from senior center fielder Laci Jurus and loaded the bases with two outs, but wasn’t able to scratch out another run.

“Big-time players make big-time plays,” Mootz said. “Our seniors, every one of them stepped up in those innings.”

Strines breezed through the bottom of the seventh inning with no issues. She struck out two Louisville batters, while one grounded out to the shortstop. Strines finished with eight strikeouts, while giving up one earned run off three hits and two walks.

“This is what we’ve been working towards for four years,” Strines said of the five-member senior class. “Just to get it done now shows how much we came together as a team.”

Holland Springfield now awaits Boardman in the state semifinals on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. The Blue Devils won their regional 6-5 over Mansfield Madison Comprehensive.