Staff photo / Preston Byers Canfield’s Bethy Zorella (left) slides into home plate just before the tag by Austintown catcher Marissa Polder during Tuesday’s 12U Little League District 2 tournament game at the Fields of Dreams in Boardman.

BOARDMAN — Canfield dug itself out of an early deficit and played just clean enough of a game to beat Austintown 4-3 in the Little League Ohio District 2 12U softball tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Fields of Dreams in Boardman.

“Just came down to one play there. We laid down a bunt, and they made a mistake there, and we were able to squeeze a run in,” Canfield manager Lou Zorella said.

Canfield’s game-winning run came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when, while tied 3-3, the ball bounced off of the glove of Austintown’s first baseman after a Lydia Handel hit.

The mistake allowed not only Handel to reach base safely, but it gave Kylee Kritz enough time to race across home plate and take the lead.

“The team that made the least amount of mistakes [won today],” Austintown coach Mike Polder said. “When you’re playing first base at Fields of Dreams in June, the sun is a problem. You got to have a visor, you got to have glasses and you got to have your hand up. It’s tough, tough position, I don’t care who you are. I was at first base, and I couldn’t see much. So credit to Canfield, not taking anything away, but the team that made the least amount of mistakes is the team that was successful today.”

The little things bit at Austintown throughout Tuesday’s game.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Canfield mistake, a Jordan Greenhaw single turned into a Canfield run when the ball rolled under the left fielder’s glove. The miscue was felt even more the following at-bat when McKayla Lang’s groundout scored Greenhaw, who had made it to third base and gave Canfield its first lead of the game.

Austintown managed to rebound, with Myla Stubbs’ leadoff triple eventually resulting in a sacrifice bunt and Stubbs scoring to tie the game at 2.

Austintown pitcher Addison Weidenthal shined in the second and third innings as she faced trouble.

In the second, Weidenthal allowed a one-out double and single and appeared on the verge of falling behind on the scoreboard again. However, she forced Handel into a groundout to third base before striking out Cam Griswold for the final out of the inning.

She did more of the same in the third; after back-to-back no-out singles, Weidenthal fielded and put out a hard-hit groundball slapped back at her. She then snagged a line drive fired her direction and doubled up the runner on third base to get out of the jam.

“Addison’s awesome,” Polder said. “She throws strikes, she keeps people off balance, and she fields her position. You saw her turn that double play today. She’s a tough kid, and she can field her position like nobody. Really proud of her, because today was an extremely hot day.”

The Austintown offense could not provide the same kind of boost and went through the third and fourth innings without a hit as Kritz settled in in the circle. Meanwhile, Canfield took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when a throw to first base went awry, allowing Mia Tieche to reach base and Greenhaw to score.

A Stubbs single and steal, followed by a successful Anna DeMetro bunt, tied the game again, but only temporarily, as Kritz scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.

With three outs left, Austintown proved unable to rally; Kritz retired the three batters in order to secure the Canfield victory.

Austintown is now in the losers bracket of the district tournament and will play South Range, which beat Springfield 4-0. The game is set to begin at 8 p.m. today on Field S2 at Fields of Dreams.

With the win, Canfield advances to the semifinals, where Poland awaits. Poland defeated Springfield 11-0 on Monday.

First pitch for the Canfield vs. Poland is 6 p.m. today on Field S2.

“We’ll get some an hour of practice a little bit before and come out to the fields and just be ready to go,” Zorella said.