BASEBALL: Leopards “Crank” Out 4-2 Win at Salem
Louisville 4, Salem 2
Jon Crank hit a 2-run homer in the top of the sixth to give the Leopards a 4-0 lead before Louisville went on to win 4-2 at Salem Thursday evening. Riley Groves also pitched a complete game striking out 6 and also drove in a run at the plate to lead the Leps.
Louisville took their first advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning. Connor Ruffier walked and Mike Kelly singled to left to put runners on first and second. Kelly finished with two hits for the contest.
Then Crank grounded out to short, but each runner advanced a base. Groves then hit a sacrifice fly that brought 
home Ruffier to make it 1-0 Leps. Next, Alex Hollifield reached base on an infield error that allowed Kelly to score from third and put Louisville up 2-0.
Ruffier again jump-started the Louisville offense in the sixth inning when he got on board via an infield single. Two batters later Crank hit a 2-run bomb over the right field fence to put Louisville up 4-0.
The Quakers countered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Seth Leininger’s 2-run single to center scored both Brendan Webb and Storm Haueter. Haueter finished with 2 of the Quakers 4 hits on the evening.
In the bottom of the seventh, Groves and the Leopards defense shutout Salem to seal the victory. Groves pitched all seven innings, striking out 6, and allowing 2 runs on just 4 hits. With the win, Groves remains a perfect 6-0 on the season with a 1.39 earned run average.
The victory allows the Leopards to keep pace atop the NBC Standings at 8-2 and improves their overall record to 12-5. Louisville will play Carrollton next week on the road Tuesday and home Thursday. The Leopards will play Marlington the following week. If the Leps win out they will have at least a share of the conference title.
Box Score
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Louisville 000-202-0–4-7-0
Salem 000-002-0–2-4-2
Louisville Leopards Varsity Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K White | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C Ruffier | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| M Kelly | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Crank | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| R Groves | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A Hollifield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C Neff | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G Yoder | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D Stertzbaugh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 28 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Louisville Leopards Varsity Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Groves | 21 | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 67.5% |
| Totals | 21 | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 67.5% |
Salem Quakers Varsity Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S Haueter | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S Leininger | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| K O’brien | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Wolgang | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| A Brant | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Z Economous | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B Webb | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J Fortey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J Carner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| B Bezon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 23 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Salem Quakers Varsity Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Brant | 16 | 5.1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 61.6% |
| S Haueter | 5 | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 46.9% |
| Totals | 21 | 7.0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 57.1% |
Records: Louisville 12-5, 8-2; Salem 1-17, 0-10
NEXT UP: The Leps will next travel to Carrollton to take on the Warriors on Tuesday, May 1 at 4:30 PM.
JV REPORT
Louisville 13, Salem 3, 5 innings.
The Leopards used an 8-run second inning and scored the first 11 runs of the contest before mercying the Quakers 13-3 in 5 innings. Despite the 13 runs, Louisville pounded out just 6 hits as Salem pitching issued 15 walks. Michael Lautner had 2 RBI’s and Riley Graybeal scored 3 runs for Louisville. On the mound, Connor Zwick and Alex Hewitt combined to allow just 3 runs on 4 hits and struck out 5 Quakers.
PICTURES
JV Box Score
Team 123-45–R-H-E
Salem 000-30–3-4-0
Louisville 182-02–13-6-1
Salem Quakers JV Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richards | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cappuzzello | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| McGuire | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ciotti | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jenkins | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Meals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Erskine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Robbins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ahern | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Butcher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wilms | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 19 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
Salem Quakers JV Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jenkins | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 32.7% |
| Butcher | 6 | 2.0 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 52.2% |
| Richards | 3 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 42.9% |
| Totals | 12 | 4.0 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 42.3% |
Louisville Leopards JV Batting
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Graybeal | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| C Zwick | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Z Schaffner | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Z Shea | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| M Lautner | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| J Agnone | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| T Butera | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J Crank | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C Leeders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Z Sims | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C Hahn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A Hewitt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| V Knebl | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| A Nelson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 1 |
Louisville Leopards JV Pitching
| Pitching | O | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Zwick | 11 | 3.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 56.9% |
| A Hewitt | 4 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 51.9% |
| Totals | 15 | 5.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 55.6% |
Records: Louisville 9-6, 7-3
