Cantley Tosses Second Consecutive No-Hitter as Leopards Mercy South – Softball

Louisville 10, Canton South 0, 5 Innings

Sarah Cantley threw her second consecutive no-hitter as the Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball Team run-ruled the visiting Canton South Wildcats 10-0 in 5 Innings. Tuesday Evening at the Diamond of Dreams. With the victory, the #2 ranked Lady Leopards improved to 20-1 on the season and 11-1 in the NBC.

Cantley struck out 10 of the first 11 batters she faced en rout to tying her own 5-inning strikeout record of 14. Cantley’s only blemish came when she hit the second batter of the game on a full count. A ground to Shortstop Teagan Rice in the fourth was the only ball the Wildcats put into play. She threw to first and a clutch stretch by Lauren Bennett recorded the putout. Other than the hit batsman, Cantley never fell behind more than 1-0 and delivered first pitch strikes to 13 of the 16 hitters she faced.

Not to be outdone, the Lady Leopards offense put up 10 runs on the board for the third consecutive game. Kaycee Ollis batted 4-for-4 with 3 doubles, scored 2 runs, and drove in a pair of runs. Ollis hit a walk-off double scoring Kaylee Nolte from third for the clinching run. She also started the scoring by doubling in Sydney McKeever in the first inning. 

Louisville went yard twice during the contest. Sarah Cantley homered in her second straight game against Canton South with a 2-run shot in the opening inning. Later, Teagan Rice opened up the third inning with a solo blast over the right center field fence that literally landed in between her family members. The blast was the second of her Varsity career as she became the ninth different Lady Leopard to hit a home run this season.

Louisville continued to add to their total in the third. Ollis, who doubled again, scored on a passed ball. Then Justina Sirohman singled home courtesy runner Ashley Zifer. McKeever (Sydney not Peyton contrary to fake Twitter news) also walked with the bases loaded scoring Alex Fankhauser from third to make it 7-0.

While Cantley made quick work of Canton South, the Leopards hitters were anything but an easy out. Zifer opened up the bottom of the fifth with a double after a 12-pitch at-bat. Zifer stayed alive with 2 strikes by connecting on 6 foul balls. She would then come home on a 2-pitch at-bat that ended with Ellie Jackson’s RBI double to left. Jackson would advance to third on the throw and score on a passed ball. 

The merry-go-round continued with Nolte singling on a déjà vu hard hit ground ball to right field that was nearly identical to her first career hit at Canton South this past Saturday. McKeever used her famous bunt single to advance Nolte to second. Then Rice sacrificed the runners over for Ollis. The Junior Catcher ripped a line drive that one hopped into the right field fence scoring Nolte for the clinching run and also sealed Cantley’s second straight no-hitter.

Cantley is the second known Lady Leopard to throw back-to-back no-hitters. Kim Squire also threw back-to-back no-nos in 1998. She no-hit the Canton Timken Trojans in a 29-0, 5-inning victory on April 1 and then tossed another no-no in a 3-0 win against the Northwest Indians on April 2. For Cantley, this is her third no-hitter of the season and fourth of her Varsity career both of which are team records.

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UP NEXT: The Louisville Leopards Softball Team will next host the winner of #9 Jackson at #8 Green on Thursday, May 10 at 5:00 PM in the DI Massillon Sectional Finals.

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VARSITY SOFTBALL BOX SCORE

LEOPARDS 10, WILDCATS 0, 5 INNINGS

Team 123-45–R-H-E

Canton South 000-00–0-0-0

Louisville 304-03–10-15-0

CANTON SOUTH WILDCATS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS

CANTON SOUTH WILDCATS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS

LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS

LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS

Records: Louisville 20-1, 11-1