Edison senior Dani Wilhelm led the Chargers to their first victory over Clyde in her four years by doing what she does best.
Tied at 3-3, Wilhelm singled with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and stole second. The infield, playing back for Hannah Oeder after her double and deep fly ball earlier in the game, was unable to field a short tip off the end of the bat, which dropped for a single. Wilhelm burned around third and scored for the 4-3 lead.
"She was going the whole way," Edison coach Dale Dawson said of Wilhelm, the Chargers' veteran baserunning specialist. "She knew in that situation, in a tie game, she was going the whole way. From the crack of the bat, she was gone."
Wilhelm's steal to set the table for the final run was her 43rd this season, tying Ohio's highest-reported season total in 2010 by Michelle Nizik of Parma.
"That's fanstastic. I couldn't tell you how valuable those are to this team," Dawson said. "Look how many extra bases that is -- That's the leadoff batter getting triples and doubles."
The Edison senior's base-stealing threat also helped Madison Cheek (.476 average) and Susan Knight (.554), in the order behind Wilhelm, said Dawson: Opposing teams' pitch-outs in anticipation of steals help Cheek and Knight get ahead in the count.
Wilhelm (.457 batting average, .500 OBP) also holds the Chargers' season record for single-base hits with 44 in 2010. She is threatening to break that again with 41 and at least two games to play.
Oeder and Knight both doubled and singled for Edison, while Wilhelm, Cheek and Karyn Schmidt hit two singles apiece.
Knight yielded seven hits and two walks for three runs (one earned), striking out nine. After pitching on five consecutive days, Knight gets to rest until Wednesday's district semifinal at Norwalk against Upper Sandusky.
The Chargers, who replaced six starters to open the 2011 campaign, have put together four quality victories in a row, starting with a sectional championship over New London on Thursday and a pair of shutouts in a doubleheader against Margaretta on Friday.
"We had a lot of those young kids, and it's finally all starting to come together," Dawson said. "We've had a lot of ups and we've had a lot of downs, but it's starting to come together."
Edison 030 000 1 -- 4 9 2
Clyde 021 000 0 -- 3 7 1
WP: Susan Knight. LP: Brooke Billings.
2B: Edison 2 (Hannah Oeder, Susan Knight)
