After a 10-strikeout performance against Shaker Heights in the district final, Amherst pitcher Karina Shuster had another dominant outing on May 27.
In the Division II Region 6 semifinal, the All-Ohio junior gave up three hits and one run with 14 strikeouts against Twinsburg.
The offense generated runs in the first inning, and Amherst clinched its regional final spot in a 6-1 win. The 19-10 Comets will look to win their second regional title in program history — the last one being a decade ago. Their regional final will be against Walsh Jesuit at Berea-Midpark on May 29.
Final
Amherst 6
Twinsburg 1
Shuster throws another gem in the playoffs. (Two hits, 1 HR, 14K)@TwinsburgTigers @MJournalSports pic.twitter.com/2ovDyEf7G5
— Mark Perez-Krywany (@Perez_Sports) May 27, 2026
“She was locating everything today,” Amherst coach Lacey Reichert said. “The change-up floated right in there a couple of times. You know she is locating well and spinning it well when she is getting a lot of swings and misses. I thought she had a lot of swings and misses.
“We are not throwing the ball around defensively and we are putting together confident at-bats for the most part,” Reichert said. “With the way Karina (Shuster) is pitching, we are always going to be in games. We have to play defense and give her run support.”
On the year, Shuster is at 237 strikeouts. Entering the regional semifinal with a 2.17 ERA, she yielded one of the area’s best earned run averages.
“(This season) has been great. I love how my team have each other’s back,” Shuster said. “It feels really good for me and it makes me more confident whenever I pitch. I love my team and we are great.”
After striking out two in the top of the first, Amherst’s lineup hit five singles in the first six at-bats.
After a two strikeout first inning from Shuster, Morgan Lymer drives her home with a single
Comets are out to a 4-0 lead@MJournalSports @TwinsburgTigers pic.twitter.com/keNDRpKfU9
— Mark Perez-Krywany (@Perez_Sports) May 27, 2026
With multiple Comets outrunning the throw to first base, their offense gained early momentum and confidence for a four-run inning.
“We just said that our first three hitters hit the ball in the infield and we put four runs on the board,” Reichert said. “You don’t have to have these big huge swings. There is something to be said for putting the ball in play and hustling down the line. We have a lot of speed in this batting order. Put the ball in play and make the other team get you.”
The 4-0 lead put Shuster in an ideal position, and she went on to strike out the next six of the Tigers’ seven batters.
Despite Rory McConoughey spoiling Shuster’s perfect game bid in the third, Shuster was still firing on all cylinders.
“When you spot somebody four runs to (Shuster’s) talent and what she is doing, you feel good, but the two insurance runs that we got as the game went on, were big,” Reichert said.
Findlay commit Leah Sprague, Briana Blankenship and Sienna Rebman impacted the Comets’ offense by getting on base early in the game.
They also got on base later in the game, too, and were brought home with Sprague’s fifth-inning double and a wild pitch in the sixth.
PHOTOS: Amherst vs. Twinsburg softball, May 27, 2026
“We started swinging at some pitches that maybe we should not have,” Reichert said. “We were hitting the ball lazily in the air and we wanted to get back to getting the ball back on the ground and on the line. We adjusted in the fifth and sixth inning.”
Twinsburg’s only run came in the seventh inning.
On the inning’s first at-bat, Mackenzie Sweeney lined a hit over the left-field fence. The Tigers’ momentum was temporary, as three of the next four batters were retired to end the game.
The score
Amherst 6, Twinsburg 1