Leopards Rally to Nip Polar Bears 4-3 – Softball
Louisville 4, Jackson 3
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball Team rallied for a 4-3 victory over the visiting Jackson Polar Bears Friday at the Diamond of Dreams. With the victory, Louisville improves to 4-1 on the year.
A pair of home runs gave Jackson an early 3-0 lead midway through the second inning. Sophia Bernard hit a 2-run homer to left in the opening frame and Anna Darrah led off the second with a home run to center.
The Lady Leopards chipped away at the lead starting in the bottom of the second. Kaylee Nolte singled and Sarah Cantley walked to start the frame. Justina Sirohman sacrificed the runners over. Then Lauren Bennett hit a line drive single to center scoring Nolte and courtesy runner Katie Porter to make it 3-2.
Kaycee Ollis hit her second homer in as many games in the bottom of the third. The solo shot to right field knotted the game at 3-3. Later in the fourth, Ollis delivered the go-ahead run with a single to center scoring Sydney McKeever from second. Louisville worked its two-out magic earlier in the inning as McKeever and Teagan Rice smacked back-to-back singles to fill the empty bases. 24 of the Lady Leopards 37 RBI’s this season (65%) have come with two outs.
Cantley did the rest in the circle as she overcame the earlier Jackson homer runs with 5 shutout innings to end the contest. Cantley gave up just 3 hits and struck out 7 to improve to 2-0 on the year. She fanned the first two Jackson hitters in the top of the seventh before catching the final out to seal the win.
The 4-3 Leopards victory matches the same result as their previous meeting together in the DI Massillon Sectional Final matchup last season. Louisville also trailed 3-0 in the game before rallying for a pair for runs in the third and scoring 2 more off Cantley’s homer in the fifth.
The Leopards have now defeated the Polar Bears in 6 straight meetings, including the last 3 at Louisville. Jackson still leads the all-time series 29-18 and holds an 11-10 edge in games played at LHS.
This was the 50th career victory for Head Coach Andrea Arney who is now 50-7 (.877) in the midst of her third season at the helm.
UP NEXT: The Louisville Leopards Softball Team will next travel to Keystone for a tri on Saturday, April 6. The Lady Leps will take on the Lake County Perry Pirates at 1:00 PM followed by the host Keystone Wildcats at 3:00 PM.
VARSITY SOFTBALL BOX SCORE
LEOPARDS 4, POLAR BEARS 3
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Jackson 210-000-0–3-3-1
Louisville 021-100-X–4-8-2
JACKSON POLAR BEARS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexi Eckman | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Amanda Oeder | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ellie Chevalier | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sophia Bernard | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Elizabeth Bara | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anna Darrah | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mara Kachur | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Raylee Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alayna Mcmullen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sophia Fornicola | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Megan Magee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaclyn Zanoli | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 26 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
JACKSON POLAR BEARS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaclyn Zanoli | 5.2 | 83 | .699 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Totals | 6.0 | 84 | .702 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney McKeever | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Teagan Rice | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaycee Ollis | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Fankhauser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kaylee Nolte | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sarah Cantley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Justina Sirohman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lauren Bennett | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Lexi Zavarelle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shae Thomas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Katie Porter | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashley Zifer | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 25 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Cantley | 7.0 | 96 | .677 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals | 7.0 | 96 | .677 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
Records: Louisville 4-1
