Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Canfield pitcher Paris Lindgren pitches during the Cardinals’ 6-5 victory over Boardman on Friday at Boardman High School.

BOARDMAN — Coming into the season off a state championship, if Canfield had any “question marks,” it was the relative inexperience of its pitching staff.

For three years, the Cardinals relied on former ace Malena Toth in the circle. But this season, Canfield has had three players sharing pitching duties. That group has had its ups and downs, but they’ve matured and shown growth in the circle throughout the course of the season, and that was on full display on Friday.

It wasn’t clean, and it wasn’t pretty, but the Cardinals pitchers got the outs when they needed them to hold off Boardman 6-5 in a key All-American Conference matchup.

“That pitching staff has just been incredible all year,” Canfield head coach Michael Kernan said. “The three pitchers we put in there today, from the start of the season until now, they’ve just continued to mature and work hard. They go in there so strong and they gotta battle what’s at hand. I don’t have words to say how much I appreciate what they’ve done for us this season and the position they’ve put us in to win these games like we are right now.”

Friday’s matchup was a continuation from Monday’s game when the two teams were able to play into a scoreless middle of the second inning between two lightning delays before getting postponed due to storms.

Canfield’s Camryn Hrina, Paris Lindgren and Caylee Ortiz combined for six strikeouts and six walks, while giving up seven hits.

Hrina pitched the first 1 2/3 innings until the postponement on Monday, then Lindgren got the start on Friday when the contest resumed in the bottom of the second inning with two outs on the board. Lindgren went 2 1/3 innings before making way for Ortiz.

At that point, Canfield had built a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a four-run top of the frame that included five hits, an RBI from Alexis Johnson and an RBI double from Ava Millich. The Cardinals’ other two runs scored on a Spartan throwing error.

“You can’t make mistakes against a team like this and expect to beat them. You can’t beat good teams when you don’t play good defense,” Boardman head coach Fred Mootz said. “We’ve hung our hat on good defense and good pitching all year long, and unfortunately, we picked today to have probably our worst defensive game.”

But Boardman didn’t go away. The Spartans got a leadoff double from Alex Ward, and after back-to-back walks, Hrina came back in for Ortiz. After a bases-loaded walk, a two-RBI double by Gabi Sferra and a run scoring on a passed ball, Boardman had cut Canfield’s lead to just one run.

“We still had opportunities,” Mootz said. “I’m proud of them for fighting back. … But it was the perfect storm. They’re coming off an emotional high yesterday beating Fitch and we just weren’t probably as focused as we needed to be, and that’s on me. I’m the head coach of this team, and I take full responsibility for this loss.”

Hrina got out of the inning, but after a walk in the bottom of the seventh, Lindgren entered to try to finish things out with the Cardinals clinging to a one-run lead.

A fly out deep to left field by Mikayla Rivera made things nervy for Canfield for a moment, but Lindgren ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts to secure the victory.

“Some of them have been hotter than others,” Kernan said. “As we progress through games, I think one change we’re trying to make is to not give up too much before changing pitchers. Let them come back in and let the other team see some different looks. When you’re playing a state-ranked AAC team and it’s 6-5, you can’t emulate those situations for these kids, so you’re just playing it batter by batter. All three (of them) know to be ready. They’ve picked each other up all year.”

Ward led the Spartans with a pair of hits, including a double, while Sydney Lutz had two RBIs for Canfield.

The Cardinals’ victory creates a three-way tie between Canfield, Boardman and Fitch atop the AAC standings. The Falcons have completed all their conference games and sit at 6-2, while the Spartans are 5-2 and the Cardinals are 4-2.

Boardman and Canfield still have to play each other one more time, and the Cardinals also have an additional league game against Howland to make up.

“I told the girls, our conference is as tough as it gets,” Kernan said. “The girls know what’s at hand, what’s at stake. They’re giving their best effort, and they know that the AAC is a goal of ours. They’re playing like it right now, and they know we have to win out to have a piece of the title.”