Staff photo / Preston Byers Mineral Ridge’s Lily Merolillo awaits a pitch during Thursday’s Division VI playoff game vs. Grand Valley in Weathersfield.

WEATHERSFIELD — A day after its playoff game was rained out in the second inning, Mineral Ridge completed a 12-2 sectional final victory over Grand Valley on Thursday in Weathersfield.

When rain called off their Division VI, Northeast 1 sectional game, the Rams led 5-1 in the bottom of the second. Ridge scored four runs to start off Wednesday and kept the Mustangs at bay from thereon out before a walk-off double to trigger the mercy rule in the sixth inning.

“Our girls came in and did their thing,” Mineral Ridge co-head coach Joe Merolillo said. “I know it’s hard to start a game and stop, [but] they picked it up right where we left off. I think they did a really good job on doing that and staying in the game and never letting off the gas.”

On Wednesday, Grand Valley scored the first run of the game with a Breanna Rowland sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. Ridge immediately responded with five runs; Savannah Turek tied the game by drawing a bases-loaded walk before Kelcee Dye drove in two runs on a single and two runs scored on a subsequent error.

When the game resumed Thursday, Turek drew first blood with an RBI double. Kourtni Kaminski then singled, which brought home two more runs. Four batters later, Sullivan Sandy hit a two-out single that scored the Rams’ fourth run of the second inning and ninth run of the game.

Despite surrendering another run, Mustangs pitcher Natilly Hostetler settled in for the third inning. She limited Ridge to four hits and just one run between the third and fifth innings, helping the Mustangs avoid a double-digit deficit.

“Natilly did a great job in the circle through the deluge of rain yesterday, and then came back out today in the heat and did a really good job and was consistent for us. Got us the pitches that we needed,” Grand Valley coach Kim Triskett said.

Fortunes changed in the sixth inning, however. After picking up two consecutive outs, Ridge’s Megan Haynie drew a walk before Sandy doubled, putting herself and Haynie in scoring position. Lily Merolillo then, as her coaches instructed, let her hands go and drove in both Sandy and Haynie with a hit to left field to trigger the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) 10-run mercy rule.

The win punches Ridge’s proverbial ticket to the district tournament, but for Grand Valley, Thursday’s loss may be the final game of its season.

The Mustangs have a home season finale scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m. against Chalker, although the weather will ultimately decide if Grand Valley be able to honor Kaityln Baumann, its only senior. But even if it cannot, Triskett is content with Thursday being the Mustangs’ final showing of the year.

“It’s supposed to be at home, so that would be great,” Triskett said. “We didn’t technically have a senior game because of the weather; we had a little senior gathering inside. So this would give her an opportunity to go out on her home field, have an opportunity to play in front of her family and her friends. And it would be great for our kids going out at home because of the progress that we’ve made through the year, giving us an opportunity to win a game on our home field at the end of the season.

“So hopefully, Mother Nature agrees that we need this opportunity and gives us a shot. So it would be great for them. But if that doesn’t happen, I think today was a really good tell for where we can go in the future, because, again, it’s a really good Mineral Ridge team, and we came and we showed up, so that’s really important.”

Ridge has also a non-tournament game scheduled today; the Rams are set to travel to Andover to play Pymatuning Valley and, the coaches hope, continue to improve and carry some momentum into their district semifinal game.

On Monday, fourth-seeded Ridge will host No. 9 Crestview, which the Rams scrimmaged in the preseason.

“It’s a big challenge,” Ridge co-head coach Will Sandy said of the game vs. the Rebels. “They play on the other side of the MVAC, which we’re really familiar with. We played multiple teams from that side, and we have a lot of common opponents, and the results were pretty similar. So we’re expecting a tough game. Melvin [Miller] does a great job with the Crestview girls, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The winner of Monday’s game will advance to the district final next Wednesday at Jackson-Milton in North Jackson.