Staff photo / Preston Byers Boardman’s Addie Kowacich smiles after rounding third base following a home run during Tuesday’s Division III, Northeast 2, district semifinal win vs. Westlake at Boardman High School.

BOARDMAN — Boardman battered a pair of Westlake pitchers Tuesday en route to a five-inning, 11-1 victory in the Division III, Northeast 2, district semifinals.

The ninth-seeded Spartans scored two runs in the first inning and nine in the third to pull away from the Demons as they continue marching, they hope, back to Akron for next month’s state final four.

“It was a complete game,” Boardman head coach Fred Mootz said. “Gabi [Sferra] went out and did what she does, what she’s done all year. Defensively, we played well behind her. And offensively, as you can see, we were able to put up 11 runs. I thought we started out a little slow offensively the first time through. But I tell them when they get the mentality of passing the bat and just think base hit, base hit. … We’re a great hitting team when we have that mindset. And we just did all the little things right.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Addie Kowacich got things started for the Spartans with a two-out triple to right-center field. Kate Thames then brought Kowacich home with a double to deep center field. Kenzie Cherne followed with an RBI single to go up 2-0. She was later tagged out trying to score on a Sferra hit.

After a scoreless second inning, Boardman put the game out of reach in the third.

Kowacich led off the home half with a home run, taking a Cydney Loucka pitch over the fence in right-center field. Thames, the next batter, then did the exact same thing to give the Spartans a 4-0 lead. After back-to-back homers, Westlake relieved Loucka with Carson Schneider.

Following a walk by Cherne, Sferra drove in Cherne with a double. Emily Swantek then reached base on an error, and Jocelynn Torres drew a walk before a Lanie Joyce line drive scored her team’s sixth run. Ellie Wymer drove in a pair of runs during the next at-bat to push Boardman ahead 8-0.

In their second trips to the plate in the inning, Kowacich and Thames both helped the Spartans extend their lead. Kowacich’s double to right-center scored two, while Thames grounded out, allowing Kowacich, who finished a single shy of the cycle, to score and increase the advantage to 11.

“I want to say I’m just seeing the ball really good right now,” Kowacich said. “I think taking it the opposite way has been really helpful, and just knowing I’m going to hunt early in the count.”

The Demons scored their only run in the top of the fifth inning, when Kylie Colacarro dropped in a single just out of reach for shortstop Mikayla Rivera, scoring Isabel Mueller, who had drawn a leadoff walk.

While Sferra recovered to finish out the run-rule win with a pair of strikeouts and a popout, Mootz acknowledged that he would have “liked to finish a little bit stronger.”

“It’s tough. Especially when you have a long inning, [Sferra] has to sit and then have to go back out and pitch,” Mootz said. “But we kept that other run at third base; we didn’t obviously have to extend the game and play another inning. And that’s key: just settle them down. You guys work to put up 11 runs, you get a comfortable lead for your pitcher. If we make a couple of mistakes, we know we have a cushion there to be able to afford to make mistakes. And then [we] just come back and finish strong.”

Sferra struck out 10 batters in the five-inning game. She allowed three hits, two walks and an earned run. Westlake’s pitchers combined to allow a dozen hits, seven earned runs and four walks. They struck out one batter.

With the win, Boardman (18-8) advanced to Thursday’s Division III, Northeast 2, district championship game, where Mootz said he anticipated a matchup with No. 5 Midview. However, the Middies suffered a 2-0 upset loss to 25th-seeded Revere on Tuesday.

As a result, the Spartans will play the Minutemen, who defeated No. 17 Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 4-2 before their road win vs. Midview.

Mootz, speaking while the other semifinal game was in the seventh inning, said he would “try to dig up some info” on Revere before their Thursday meeting in North Royalton.

“That’s one thing we do as a coaching staff: We scout very well. We try to be prepared for the team we’re facing, but it doesn’t matter who we’re facing,” Mootz said. “Obviously, if Revere won or Midview won, they did their job to get to this district championship game. … We’ll prepare for whoever our opponent is, and we’re gonna have the same mentality no matter who it is.”