Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Maplewood’s Kaycee Hyde (9) raises the Division VII, Northeast 1, district championship trophy with her teammates after the Rockets beat Ashtabula St. John on Wednesday at Mentor.

MENTOR — Nearly everything went Addison Marker’s way on Wednesday in the Division VII, Northeast 1, district championship. The only blemish was an error in the fourth inning at Mentor High School.

Marker struck out 17 of the 22 batters faced as she threw a no-hitter in a 7-0 win over Ashtabula St. John, helping lead the Maplewood softball team to its first district title since 2007.

“Last year, we lost in the district final, so that was our push this year,” Marker said. “We got it this year. It just feels so great.”

Marker is focused during her preparation for a game, and she was confident in the first inning that she had a feel for her pitches.

“Usually after the first inning, when we get our bats going and I feel my team’s energy, I start getting into my groove,” Marker said.

And the bats provided some energy very quickly for the Rockets (25-2).

Claire Urchek and Samantha Krieg got things started with RBIs in the bottom of the first inning.

Then the combination of Urchek and Marker got two two-out hits to extend the lead to 4-0.

“I wanted to get those first few runs on the board so we could relax and create some energy from that relaxation,” Maplewood head coach Jessica Urchek said.

Samantha Krieg helped manufacture another Rockets run in the third. She reached on a lead-off single and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Aleesia Woomer drove her in on a bunt single to increase the lead to 5-0.

St. John got its only base runner in the fourth inning. A Rocket overran a shallow flyball, leading to an error. But Marker got out of the inning without any additional stress.

“She comes out there wanting to take down every single batter,” Jessica Urchek said. “She’s had a tough 16 years, and I think just the mental things she’s gained from that bring a lot of confidence in the circle. We love having her out there. Our team brings a lot of energy when she’s out there.”

The Rockets tacked on a couple more runs in the sixth after Kaycee Hyde set up the inning with a double. Then RBI singles by Marker and Lexi Yannucci pushed the Rockets’ lead to 7-0.

“We hit the ball well today,” Jessica Urchek said. “We put the ball in play, we bunted well. There’s not a lot I can say about what we didn’t do well at the plate.”

The Rockets will play their regional final on May 27 at Dalton. They will face another Mahoning Valley foe in No. 2 seed Jackson-Milton. The Blue Jays won their district 14-8 over Cuyahoga Heights.

It was also a special game for Jessica Urchek. She was a part of the coaching staff that won that 2007 district championship. She was an assistant coach then, but now she can say she earned a district trophy as a head coach.

“These girls have been working for this since they’ve been 5,” Jessica Urchek said. “We have a great community behind us. Props to the teams that came out and played us this year and challenged us. This is for them.”