Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Canfield’s 10u Minor Little League softball team runs the bases with their District 2 championship banner on Monday after beating Austintown 10u at Field of Dreams in Boardman.

BOARDMAN — Last year, Canfield’s 10u Little League Minor softball team came up agonizingly short in the District 2 championship game.

However, that loss laid the foundation for what would unfold over the next “365 days,” and this year, Canfield reversed its fortunes, downing Austintown 10u 17-1 in three innings on Monday to capture the District 2 championship at Field of Dreams in Boardman.

“It’s 365 days of hard work,” Canfield head coach John Grover said. “Last year, we lost in this game and we put our heads down, got to work and didn’t make excuses. We got beat by a better Austintown team last year, and we wanted to work hard, put in the training and come back and see what we could do this year.”

Canfield didn’t just win the District 2 title, it dominated the field over the past two weeks. The team went 8-0 in the tournament, outscoring its opposition 135-5.

“We have confidence, but it’s about preparedness,” Grover said. “We go about our business the same every single day, and we know that Austintown is always going to be a battle. I always tell our girls, and the Austintown girls, Route 46 is loaded with talent. You only gotta drive a couple miles to have a plethora of amazing softball players, and we have the utmost respect for them.”

From Austintown, all the way down south to Canfield, South Range, and even Boardman, that area has churned out a ton of softball talent, and it shows no signs of stopping.

At the high school level, Fitch, Canfield, Boardman and South Range have all made state runs in recent years. Plus, at the Little League level, Canfield 12u won the state title last year and Austintown 12u made a run to the Little League World Series two years ago.

“The battle of Route 46 is real, and it’s strong,” Austintown head coach Chris Slatzer said. “We’ve got a lot of talent. I’m sure we’ll battle it out next year, and I absolutely look forward to it. It’ll be a great time.”

On Monday, Canfield’s high-scoring offense caught fire early and never looked back. It scored four runs in the first inning, then piled on 13 more runs over the next two innings to seal the mercy-rule victory. Canfield finished with 16 total hits.

Layla Potkanowicz got things started in the first inning with a base hit that scored two runs. Then Juliana Walters and Olivia Scacchetti each added an RBI.

In the second inning, the hits kept coming for Canfield. Genevieve Dragish and Brooklyn Eubanks each batted in a run, before Emery Weinman blasted a three-run home run over the centerfield fence to put an exclamation point on the inning for Canfield. Grover nearly turned as red as his shirt in celebration as Weinman rounded the bases.

“Coaching is an honor, and it’s a leadership role. And when you’re in this role, I have 12 daughters. That’s the way I feel about it,” Grover said. “So any time a play is made, anytime something goes good, or if there’s adversity, I feel that I am their leader. With them, and any time that they could be celebrated or need a shoulder to lean on, that’s what I want to be for them.”

Austintown scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the second inning after a pair of hits from Bristol Morgan and Quinn Karlovik. The pair advanced on a wild pitch, before Morgan was able to make it home on another wild pitch.

“We’re going to keep our heads up. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, they played a hell of a game,” Slatzer said. “They battled, they stayed in it and they had no quit. I’m proud of that.”

Despite allowing the run to score, Canfield’s starting pitcher Gray Brown locked in and struck out each of the next three batters after the two lead-off hits. She finished with four strikeouts and gave up three hits, before making way for Weinman to close out the game in the third inning.

“Gray is rock solid. She had almost 200 strikeouts in 72 innings,” Grover said. “So it’s barely an inning that goes by without her striking out at least three batters. She puts in the work. We believe in her so much, and couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Canfield closed things out in the third inning with seven runs in the top of the frame. Keagen Carroll and Kenley Rogers each batted in two runs during the inning and Eubanks capped it off with an RBI double.

Austintown finished its district tournament with a 5-5 record and battled its way back to the championship game from two early losses to Canfield and South Range right at the very start two weeks ago.

“They fought, and they never got down [on themselves],” Slatzer said. “Every time we got down, they battled. We were down against South Range, and they were cheering like they were going to win the game. We brought it back in extra innings, and we punched our ticket here. This is just an amazing group of girls.”