FOLLOWING THROUGH — Big Red’s Sophia Zorne follows through on her swing after making contact against Oak Glen during Thursday’s game. Big Red won, 9-3. - Andrew Grimm

The challenge, perhaps, for veteran coach Gus DiMarzio would be to get all of that talent to perform as one unit with everyone finding ways to contribute. If they did, they would make for a very dangerous team for anyone to deal with.

Thursday evening at Oak Glen, DiMarzio and company got a perfect example of what it looks like when the group is operating a unit in the final four innings of the game.

Whether it was plays in the field, or eight different players getting a hit, or a pitcher that was not expecting to throw being thrust into action and shutting things down, all the pieces came into place to turn what was a 3-2 deficit into a 9-3 victory over a strong Golden Bears team.

“It was everybody doing something, I told them that was the epitome of a team win,” DiMarzio said. “You lose your pitcher in the middle of the game, Emily (Tuttle) had never played third before and went in at third and made a great play for a perfect put out, we had three girls with multiple hits … they all contribute.

Big Red’s Sagan Smarrella makes contact with a pitch during Thursday’s game against Oak Glen. - Andrew Grimm

“If we can keep doing that, we can keep getting better.”

That pitcher who had to come into a tough situation was Sadie Edwards. She got the ball in the fourth inning with her team team in a 2-2 deadlock after starter Isaballa Cadille left with an injury. The junior who is committed to Akron proceeded to strike out four and allow just one run over the final four innings. And, prior to getting the ball, she had knocked an RBI triple and a solo homer at the plate.

“Losing Bella in the middle of the game is a big deal, and look what Sadie did, she came right in calm as can be and shut them down,” DiMarzio said. “She hadn’t thrown in a week and a half, she told me she would warm up and go in and she did a great job. That’s the type of kid she is, she’s a Big Red kid.

“That’s what Big Red kids do, they pick each other up and do what they can to help the team. It’s not about what they get out of it, it’s about the team, it’s about Big Red. We preach it so much to them, and they believe it, they’ve bought into it.”

Ohio University signee Sena Smith had a triple and had another well-hit ball get caught up in the wind, keeping it inside the park, while Sophia Zorne had a double, single and drove in two runs, Riley Zorne also plated a pair of runs, Sagan Smarrella had a pair of base knocks and Emily Tuttle drove in a run for the Crimson and Black.

Sadie Edwards delivers a pitch against Oak Glen on Thursday. - Andrew Grimm

The key, DiMarzio thought, was just staying with it and not giving up a big inning.

“I’ve watched (Oak Glen) a lot this week and they’ve been having that one big inning,” he said. “I was preaching to the girls to stay on that even plain, I felt like if we could do that, we would be able to break through because we’ve got hitters, we’ve got nine girls that can hit the ball. I just felt like the more at bats we got, the better chance they would break through.”

LESSONS TO LEARN

While it was not the outcome Oak Glen had hoped for when they took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Golden Bears were right there with one of the best teams on their schedule until the powerful Steubenville line up was able to break through with a six-run fifth.

“We told the girls not to get down about this one, (Big Red) is a quality ball team and our girls did some good things and were right there with the lead,” Oak Glen head coach Sherrie Garner said. “We had a tough inning and dug ourselves a hole, that’s a hard line up to keep down for a whole game.

Oak Glen’s Riley Bruce launches a fly ball agsint Big Red on Thursday - Andrew Grimm

“I thought we had some good defensive plays, they did as well, outside that one inning it was a good game.”

Riley Bruce had a single and two RBIs for the Bears, while Mattie Carney had a pair of singles and Marleah Lough drove in a run.

“We showed we can play with a good team, we told them we have to work on putting the whole game together,” Garner said. “We’re not going to get hung up on it, we’re going to keep playing. We have some more important games ahead of us. We’re going to learn from it and get better, there are lessons to learn from it. Big Red always brings a quality team out and playing them helps us get better.”

Big Red 9, Oak Glen 3

BR 1-0-1 0-6-0 1 – 9 11 1

OG 0-2-0 1-0-0 0 – 3 6 0

BIG RED (2-0): Cadille (3IP, 2R, 2ER, 2H, oK, 4BB), Edwards (WP, 4IP, 1R, 1ER, 4H, 4K, 2BB) and Smarrella. Smith T; Meyer S; Edwards HR, T, 2RBI; Zorne S, D, 2RBI; Smarrella 2S; Zorne S, 2RBI; Tuttle S, RBI; Smith S.

OAK GLEN (3-3): Carney (LP, 4 1/3IP, 7R, 7ER, 6H, 6K, 3BB), Holden (2 2/3IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 1K, 1BB) and Heath. Bruce S, 2RBI; Carney 2S; Murray S; Wright S; Lough S, RBI.