STEUBENVILLE — The ending came to soon for the Big Red softball team.

Sparked by a five-run third inning, New Philadelphia – the No. 3 seed – pulled away from second-seeded Big Red en route to a 9-1 victory in an Ohio Division III Eastern District Sectional Co-Final Wednesday evening at the Crimson Complex.

“Say what you want, but we were not ready to play today,” Big Red (18-6) head coach Gus DiMarzio said. “I don’t know what to say. We hit the ball hard, but we hit it right at somebody. I’m not sure what to say. We prepared for this all year, and then we come here and this happens.”

With the win, New Philadelphia (19-7) will take on rival and No. 1 seed Dover in a district semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday on the road.

Big Red’s lone run came in the bottom of the first.

The Quakers recorded a run in the first, five in the third and one in the fifth to build a 7-1 advantage before tacking on two more runs in the sixth.

Big Red had bases loaded in the first, but the hosts were only able to push across one run. The Red and Black had three runners reach in the third and two in the sixth, but they were unable to come up with a timely hit to produce runs.

“It started three weeks ago against John Marshall,” DiMarzio said about his team’s struggles with getting timely hits. “We have had runners on second and third, and we never move the runners. We have been in that situation with no outs and have not scored. I don’t know how many runners we left on base. We had some in scoring position, but we were able to get them in. You are not going to win games when you do that.

“We had some of those little things that you can’t have. We had base running errors. We would get ahead 0-2 in the count, and the next thing you know, it is 3-2. As a coach, what are you supposed to do.

“We have talked the last three weeks about survive and advance, survive and advance.”

The visitors from Tuscarawas County tallied nine hits in the win against Big Red – three of which went for extra bases. The hosts collected four hits – all of which were singles.

Jillian Howard picked up the win for the Quakers. She struck out four without walking a batter.

Isabella Cadille took the loss for Big Red. She struck out three and walked four.

Offensively for the victors, Sidney Vandall tallied a single, a double, a triple and an RBI, Easton Miller contributed two singles and two RBI and Zoey Devore delivered an inside-the-park home run and two RBI. Also, Reese Loveday added two singles and an RBI, Kyleigh Jones collected a single and two-RBI and Sara Cardani recorded an RBI.

For Big Red, Sena Smith singled twice, and Sadie Edwards and Riley Zorne each singled once.

Vandall doubled to center to start the game, she advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Loveday to give the Black and Red an early 1-0 advantage.

Big Red answered right back in the home half of the inning.

Sophia Zorne led off the inning by reaching second on a dropped pop-up, she advanced to third on a one-out single by Smith before scoring when Paige Matteson reached on a two-out error, knotting the game at 1.

Neither team scored in the second, however, the visitors broke the game open in the third as New Philadelphia sent 10 batters to the plate in its five-run inning.

Miller singled home the go-ahead run to make the score 2-1, Cardani contributed an RBI on an error and Devore drew a bases-loaded walk to plate New Philadelphia’s fourth run of the game. Following a strikeout, Jones singled home a pair of runs to increase New Philadelphia’s lead to 6-1.

Devore produced her home run on a ball hit to right in the fifth to extend the Quakers’ advantage out to 7-1. Vandall tallied an RBI triple in the sixth, and Miller followed with a sacrifice fly to left to complete the scoring.

The game was the final one for Big Red-s three seniors – Gordana Vein, Smith and Matteson.

“Sena is going to play in Division I, and she deserves it,” DiMarzio said. “Paige is going to be playing in college, too. Gordana Vein has been hurt for two years. She worked her butt off to be able to come back and play. She was able to come back and play last week.

“Paige got hurt last year. Sadie got hurt the year before. We just haven’t had our complete team.

“They are Big Red kids. They are great girls. They are smart. They are tough. If they had a better coach, they would have done better.”

New Philadelphia 9, Big Red 1

New Philadelphia 105 012 0 – 9 9 2

Big Red 100 000 0 – 1 4 1

NEW PHILADELPHIA (19-7): Howard WP (4K, 0BB) and Loveday. Vandall S, D, T, RBI; Miller 2S, 2RBI; Loveday 2S, RBI; Cardani RBI; Devore HR, 2RBI; Jones S, 2RBI.

BIG RED (18-6): Cadille LP (3K, 4BB) and Smarrella. S. Smith 2S; Edwards S; R. Zorne S.