Lady Leopards Fall to Tornadoes in Extra Innings – Softball
Dover 11, Louisville 6, 9 Innings
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball Team fell to the Dover Tornadoes 11-6 in nine innings Saturday in the George Muhon Memorial Tournament held at Arthur Genshaft Memorial Park in Massillon. With the loss, Louisville falls to 4-8 on the season.
Benson Goes 3-for-5 to Lead Louisville
Sophomore shortstop Matti Benson batted 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs to lead the Lady Leopards. Her single to right in the bottom of the fourth brought senior designated hitter Stevie Barrett to the plate to tie the game at 3-3.
Later on, Benson recorded Louisville’s only extra base hit with a two-out triple in the bottom of the eighth inning. Benson would be left stranded on third when the inning ended on a groundout in the next at bat. The missed opportunity would prove costly as Dover would go on to score five runs in the top of the ninth inning and take the contest 11-6.
Brendle and Collins Drive in a Pair of Runs
Senior first baseman Jenna Collins also had a multi-hit game finishing 2-for-5 with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. Collins’ single to right in the opening inning brought home sophomore third baseman Kenzi Denzer and Benson to give the Leopards their first lead of the contest at 2-1.
Dover reclaimed a one run lead in the top of the fourth inning before Louisville answered back with four runs in the bottom half of the frame. Senior catcher Brooke Brendle broke the 3-3 tie by reaching base via an error by the shortstop. Similar to Collins’ first inning single, both Denzer and Benson scored on the play to give the Lady Leopards the lead back at 5-3.
Brendle wound up on second base following the error and advanced to third when Collins followed with a pop fly single to center. The pair would execute a successful double steal that saw Collins swipe second and Brendle steal home to increase the Louisville lead to 6-3.
Luneborg Strikes Out 12 for Dover
Brendle’s run would prove to be the Lady Leopards final run of the game. Tornadoes pitcher Taylor Luneborg settled down and held Louisville off the board through the remaining five innings. She went the distance throwing all nine innings, giving up only two earned runs on nine hits, and striking out 12 en rout to earning the victory in the circle.
Luneborg retired the side in the fifth inning, only allowed a single infield hit in the sixth inning, and faced the minimum in the seventh. Luneborg struck out the first two batters she faced in the eighth inning before surrendering a two-out triple to Benson. However, she was able to get Brendle to ground out to second three pitches later to get out of the inning.
Dover gave Luneborg five runs to work with in the top of the ninth and she responded by retiring the Leopards in order in the last of the ninth to seal the victory.
Martin Homers Twice for Rallying Tornadoes
Third baseman Addie Martin finished 2-for-3 with a pair of solo homers in the fourth and fifth innings to highlight the Dover offense. Martin also scored three times and was walked three times during the contest.
The Tornadoes would rally back from deficits of 2-1 and 6-3 before forcing extra innings. Martin led off the fourth inning with a homer to center to knot the game at 2-2. Later in the inning, center fielder Zoe Mulheman drove home designated hitter Avery Contini to put Dover back in front 3-2.
Martin slugged another home run to center field with one down in the fifth inning to cut the Tornado disadvantage to 6-4. Catcher Gabi Maracinni walked with the bases loaded to trim the deficit to a single run. Then in the sixth inning, Contini reached base via an infield error which allowed Luneborg to score the game-tying run from third to knot the game at 6-6.
Dover Puts Up Five Spot in Extra Innings
First baseman Ellie Durant and Luneborg both finished with a game leading three hits each. Durant singled home Luneborg in the top of the first to give the Tornadoes an early 1-0 advantage. Later in the ninth, Durant hit a sacrifice fly to bring right fielder Irelynn Wallick to the plate for what proved to be the game winning run at 7-6.
Second baseman Hannah Locke would follow two batters later with a two-run double that drove home Luneborg and Martin to make it 9-6. Then Maracinni reached via error in the next at-bat which allowed Contini and Locke to also score to extend the Dover advantage to 11-6.
Tornadoes Take All-Time Series Lead
The Lady Leopards have now fallen to the Lady Tornadoes in each of the last two seasons. Dover won the season opener at Louisville 7-1 last year.
The Tornadoes now hold a 10-9 edge in the all-time series, but the series is now tied 1-1 when playing on a neutral field. Louisville defeated Dover 3-0 at Genshaft Memorial Park in 2018 as part of the George Duhon Memorial Tournament as well.
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Cover Photo By The Louisville Herald
DOVER VS. LOUISVILLE VARSITY SOFTBALL BOX SCORE
TORNADOES 11, LEOPARDS 6, 9 INNINGS
Team 123-456-789–R-H-E
Dover 100-221-005–11-14-5
Louisville 200-400-000–6-9-4
DOVER TORNADOES SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Luneborg | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lainey Kohler | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Addie Martin | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Ellie Durant | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Avery Contini | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hannah Locke | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Gabi Maracinni | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Zoe Mulheman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Irelynn Wallick | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B Kelley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Karis Adkins | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 44 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
DOVER TORNADOES SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Luneborg | 9.0 | 136 | .772 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 136 | .772 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenzi Denzer | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matti Benson | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Brooke Brendle | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jenna Collins | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Shelby Mayle | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matti Adams | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kendra Thomas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| –Katie Heath | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stevie Barrett | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Caitlin Thouvenin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Olivia Mongiardo | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 39 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendra Thomas | 8.0 | 115 | .678 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Katie Heath | 1.0 | 27 | .519 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 142 | .648 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
Records: Louisville 4-8
