The way Gananna Lincoln junior Tiyona Marshall saw it, coming to bat against Upper Arlington in the bottom of the 11th inning with a Division I Central District softball title on the line wasn't really that big of a deal.

No, really.

"I figured there was no pressure," she said. "I just got up there and my goal was to put it into play. I just wanted to make a play."

She did a little more than that Thursday, May 20. With the bases full of Golden Lions and two out in the scoreless game, Marshall singled to left, bringing in Tanya Busby from third and ending a nearly three-hour long marathon played at Pickerington Central, 1-0.

Upper Arlington pitcher Audrey Plant dueled Gahanna's Kim Lennox toe-to-toe through the game (Lennox had 16 strikeouts, Plant 11), but Marshall said the UA senior gave no signs of tiring.

"I think she was on top of her game as much as Kim was," said Marshall. "I don't think she was any less of a pitcher than she was at the beginning of the game."

And, besides her all-state pitching prowess, Plant turned out to be a bit of a prophet. After defeating Mount Vernon 1-0 May 18 in a tournament semifinal where she struck out 17 and gave up only two hits, Plant called the tune of the championship bout:

UA was simply going to have to plate a whole lot more Golden Bears.

"Kim is an awesome pitcher," said Plant. "We didn't score and you can't win if you don't score."

Meanwhile, Gahanna coach Jim Campolo was praising some other Lions he thought were pretty awesome.

"Any one of our top five hitters will come through in the clutch," he declared.

Especially All-Ohio catcher Kayla Ledbetter, who received her usual share of walks from Plant.

"If there's anyone anywhere better than her, I want to see who the person is," Campolo said.

"Every team we've played, they constantly try to take the bat out of her hands. I know it's frustrating for her because she is a tremendous hitter. I think it has hurt her stats a little, but when you look at the on-base percentage .700, you just have to say, 'Wow.' "

While the Golden Bears (21-5) had plenty of chances, they left 11 baserunners stranded as Lennox work her way out of several jams.

"We were hitting it hard," said Bears coach Todd DelBoccio.

"If a hitter (hits the ball) six inches one way or the other, we get the run."

Gahanna (24-5) won the right to continue into a regional semifinal against Dresden Tri-Valley Wednesday, May 26, at 5 p.m. at Ohio State.

The winner plays the survivor of the other side of the bracket, either Grove City or Brunswick, for a state tournament berth Saturday, May 29.

The district result also means DelBoccio has to say good-bye to a group of seniors who won two straight OCC Central Division titles and last year set a school record for wins in a season.

"I'm so proud of these kids, these seniors," DelBoccio said. "What they've done in three years. They were a great bunch of kids to coach, I'm very proud of them. They were a special class."

"I have absolutely no regrets on the season," said Plant.

"It was a hard loss but everyone can say they played their hardest."

"I just got up there and my goal was to put it into play. I just wanted to make a play."