Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes The Ursuline seniors display their Division III district title trophy after beating Rootstown 7-0 Thursday evening at LaBrae. It’s the second straight district title for the Fighting Irish.

LEAVITTSBURG — When the final strikeout was recorded, the Fighting Irish flooded onto the field to congratulate their ace pitcher, who looked about as dynamic as one can with some hardware up for the taking.

It wasn’t just the fact that Ursuline earned a district title, it was more so that the Fighting Irish repeated the same feat in back-to-back seasons, setting a new standard for their program.

There were smiles and hugs aplenty on the field behind LaBrae High School after Ursuline rolled to a 7-0 victory over Rootstown Thursday evening.

Senior Paige Ogden was electric, fanning 14 hitters and limiting the Rovers to only a trio of hits.

“It’s super special, the girls played as a team, I’m so proud of them, I feel like it takes all the hard work, all the care, all the things we worked on and it finally pays off,” said first year coach Kristina Dugan following the thrilling win. “I’m grateful for everyone who has played a role in this, (Mike) Kernan before me, all the coaches, all of Ursuline, we feel the support and I’m just grateful for that.”

Ogden played a factor early, both in the circle and on the basepaths. Striking out the first six Rootstown hitters, she also scored the first two runs of the game for the Fighting Irish who led 2-0 after three frames.

During the bottom of the fourth, fellow senior Alyssa Sheely scored two with a double deep into the outfield. The hit parade continued in the bottom half of the fifth, when junior Liza Barbato sent one over the centerfield fence for a solo shot. Following a Layni Bednar triple, Ayva Fedor blasted a two-run homer to increase the lead to 7-0.

“I just needed to focus in and come back to it, and know who I am as a hitter,” Fedor said about the offensive attack. “It gets our excitement up and it’s really contagious, we really get it going after and we’re really excited.

“Honestly, we just all needed to be patient and stay focused and know who we are as batters. We’re really strong one through nine, even with our bench coming off, we all just have to stay focused.”

It’s all Ursuline would need, as Odgen would work out of a pair of jams when the Rovers had multiple runners on base. Rootstown came into the contest winners of eight of their last nine including a playoff victory over Champion, but were without the help of starting pitcher Shelbie Krieger who was removed from the circle after tossing 20 pitches due to a lingering injury.

“My curveball and rise ball were really coming in handy. I think my screwball lost a little bit of speed, so it really wasn’t on today, but my curve and my rise were really coming through,” Ogden said about settling in after fanning the first six. “The momentum definitely helped me and my defense was behind me to get those few pop-ups too. I think I was just getting behind in the count a little bit too early, so I always know I have to throw a first pitch strike and that helps a lot.”

Dugan found plenty of praise for her senior pitcher following the contest.

“She moved the ball really well today, and I feel like between Maddy and her and even like the coaching staff, and even the girls, we’re all meshing and it’s great to see all of our hard work finally paying off,” Dugan said.

The Fighting Irish (20-3) will advance to face the winner of Sheffield Brookside and West Salem Northwestern in Ravenna next Wednesday.

Earning a district title is nice, but winning back to back titles is something that sets a program up for success. With several seniors like Fedor, the bar has been raised for the Fighting Irish program, who feels like her team is peaking at the right time.

“I honestly think we are, we’re really coming together and playing as a team and it showed,” Fedor said. “We’re really setting high standards, and I really hope it carries on. It’s really an honor to be on this team and carry the girls with us.”