One of the top players in the area, Kohler is a dominant pitcher, elite hitter and a team leader for the Raiders softball team. South Range coach Jeff DeRose is elated to to have her.

However, Kohler didn’t take her coach’s advice on Thursday in a Division III District final at LaBrae High School, and believe it or not, DeRose couldn’t be happier.

Kohler hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to break a tie with Champion, and she and the Raiders held off the Golden Flashes for a thrilling 6-5 victory, dethroning the defending three-time state champions.

South Range now plays Tuslaw at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Youngstown State University.

Staff photo / Joe Simon South Range's Bree Kohler fires a pitch during the Raiders' 6-5 victory over Champion on Thursday.

That will soon be where Kohler plays all her games. The senior is a YSU commit, and she showed why on Thursday. After taking a healthy cut on the first pitch she saw in the fifth inning, people yelled to stop swinging for the fences.

Kohler didn’t listen.

“My first strike, I swung and missed so hard,” she said. “I was trying to hit the crap out of the ball. And when I finally got contact, it felt so good.”

So did she change her approach on the home run to left field?

“No. I did the same thing,” she said. “That was my total mission there was to hit the crap out of it, and I did.”

Staff photo / Joe Simon South Range's Kelly Stolek looks at a pitch on Thursday during the Division III District Final against Champion.

That’s not exactly the instruction DeRose gives her.

“Oh god, no, I always tell her to hit the ball on the ground,” he said. “She hits the ball so hard, that nine times out of 10, unless somebody makes a fantastic play, it’s going to get through.

“But I’m glad she swung for the fence,” he added with a laugh.

It was the final blow in a back-and-forth classic.

Champion (19-8) struck first when Cassidy Shaffer crushed a two-run homer to left-center field in the third inning.

South Range (27-3) responded in the bottom of the inning. An RBI single and a wild pitch tied the game, and then Samantha Susany roped a two-run double off the left-field fence to give the Raiders a 4-2 advantage.

The Flashes struck right back as Brooklyn Whitt singled to bring in a run. The scoring continued in the bottom of the inning as the Raiders manufactured a run when a single was followed by two bunts. That gave them a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Champion’s Isabella Meyer had a clutch two-out hit that retied the game at 5 as she hammered a two-run double to center field in the fifth.

“We tied it up a couple of times, but we just couldn’t hold them, plain and simple” Champion coach Cheryl Weaver said. “… It makes a world of difference if you can answer back, and that’s the advantage, too, of being the home team. You see what they do and then you pick up on it. It gives you a little bit of an advantage.”

Champion had another scoring chance in the sixth inning.

The Flashes had runners on first and second base with one out when a player hit a soft line drive to the shortstop. The runner on second veered a little too far off the base, and South Range was able to turn a double play. In the seventh, Shaffer hit a blast to center field, but Madison Dado made a great catch up against the fence for the second out. A ground ball ended the game.

South Range was actually the last team to beat the Flashes in the postseason, winning a regional semifinal over Champion in 2016.

“We have beat them before, but Champion’s Champion — they’ve got that reputation,” DeRose said. “You have to beat the best to be the best. And everyone said Champion was down this year. I didn’t see it. I still think they’re as good as they used to be.

“… This game was just a lot of fun. That program (Champion) is fantastic. They’ve got all of my respect. Cheryl Weaver does a fantastic job. That’s who we want to be, just like them.”

They’re a step closer.