Correspondent photo / David Dermer Austintown Fitch’s Miauna Jorge (21) walks off the field at Firestone Stadium in Akron after a Division I state semifinal on Wednesday.

AKRON — For most of the season, Austintown Fitch felt like a team destined for greatness, but fate isn’t always kind to the favorite.

Led by a decorated senior class that was motivated by its regional semifinal defeat last year, the Falcons largely dominated their opposition throughout the spring, putting together an undefeated record that earned them the top ranking in the state and their third Division I state semifinal appearance in four years.

However, Lancaster brought Fitch’s fate crashing back to earth on Wednesday, as the Golden Gales ended the Falcons’ unbeaten season 4-0 at Firestone Stadium and dashed their hopes of a third state championship in four years.

“We came up short, and it’s not the way we wanted to go out,” Falcons head coach Steve Ward said. “We just weren’t able to bring hits together, get things to drop, and that’s unfortunately just one of those days. It was a game of softball today. Our players really showed up, showed out and tried their best to make things happen, and it just didn’t drop today.”

Fitch’s potent offense never quite got a read on Lancaster pitcher Kileigh Rohr.

The Gales’ ace kept them guessing and forced them into quick pop-up outs 12 times, while striking out four and scattering five hits.

After three scoreless innings, Fitch fell behind in the top of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Lancaster’s Mia Griggs.

The Falcons didn’t panic, though. After all, they had fallen behind 1-0 in the regional final against Massillon Jackson last week before scoring 11 unanswered runs.

During the first four innings, Fitch struggled to string hits together, which resulted in them leaving five runners on base.

“She was jamming us, and we weren’t getting our bat to the ball,” Fitch senior Abby Toth said. “She was throwing higher up, so we would be jammed, and then we’re popping them up. That’s why they got the amount of pop ups that we got today.”

In the top of the sixth, the Gales started getting after Falcons pitcher Mila Hamley. Hailey Rings opened with a leadoff single, and after a sacrifice bunt, Lancaster rattled off three straight hits, including a two-RBI double from Griggs that made it 3-0.

After an RBI pop fly by Hannah Smith grew Lancaster’s lead to 4-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Fitch was faced with its biggest deficit since it trailed West Jefferson by eight runs in the third game of the season on March 28.

The Falcons came back to win that contest, but it wasn’t to be against the Gales, as Toth, Kylie Folkwein and Morgan Roby each popped up for quick outs in the bottom of the sixth.

“We know we’re great hitters. We always come up in big moments like this. It just wasn’t falling for us today,” Folkwein said. “All three of us are batting over .400, so we know we’re good hitters. It’s just today nothing was going our way, which is upsetting in the state semi game. But we had a great season and a great career, so we should all still be pretty proud.”

Annabel Mikesell flew out to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Seneca Coates reached base on her second hit of the game, before Lily Stevens flew out again and Miauna Jorge struck out to end the game.

“The deficit wasn’t the problem, the problem was we just weren’t able to get hits to drop,” Ward said. “Kaliana Ray hits two lasers right to the second baseman, and same thing with Alyssa Rodgers. Abby sends one to the warning track, and we just couldn’t get things to drop today. It’s just, unfortunately, one of those days.”

Lancaster advanced to face Hilliard Bradley for the Division I state title on Thursday. But for Fitch (26-1), it’s hard not to wonder what could have been for a team that has each of its top-five hitters headed to play in college, including three committed to the Division I level.

The Falcons’ seven seniors leave behind what Ward calls a “legendary” legacy. They’ve won four straight All-American Conference titles, four straight district titles, three regional titles and captured state championships as freshmen and sophomores.

“Definitely going to state three out of four years, making it to Akron three out of four years is a really big accomplishment for us,” Folkwein said. “Freshman, sophomore year felt really surreal. We never wanted to win state more this year, but we gave it our all. [We] had great seasons this year, and I feel like we gave everything we had to this team this year, and we couldn’t be more proud of the seniors.”

It’s a senior class that has broken countless individual and program records and achieved new milestones, but perhaps most importantly, it has set a new standard and expectation for Fitch softball.

“This senior class will never be replicated in terms of the number of players we had make it all the way through in terms of their accomplishments on the field, and more importantly, their character off the field,” Ward said. “That is something we don’t talk about enough because we’re always in the sports view. They’re high-end students, they’re great leaders in the classroom and they’re going to do great things in college. There’s never been a group like that.

“We have a 14-, 15-year old pitcher here, turned 15 during the season, and what great leadership that she got to see from her senior class on how to do things right. She’s going to carry that along, the lessons that they were able to teach.”