Lady Leopards Rally in the 6th to Shock Blue Streaks 7-5 – Softball
Louisville 7, Lake 5
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball Team rallied to defeat the Lake Blue Streaks 7-5 in their second of three games at the George Duhon Memorial Tournament Saturday at Arthur Genshaft Memorial Park in Massillon. With the victory, Louisville upped their record to 7-6 on the season.
Benson and Stillwagon Homer Early for Leopards
Freshman shortstop Matti Benson and senior first baseman Lauren Stillwagon both went 2-for-4, hit solo homers, and delivered RBI hits in the sixth inning to lead the Lady Leopards. Stillwagon homered to left field in the bottom of the first to put Louisville on the board. Benson later homered to right field to lead-off the bottom of the third inning to chop the Lake advantage in half at 4-2.
Both players now officially have hit a team-leading 3 home runs this season, although Benson has a pair of dingers pending in the suspended game against Alliance that would give her 5 for the year.
Louisville Rallies with 4 Runs in the Sixth
Trailing 5-3 with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Leopards pushed across 4 runs to take a 7-5 lead. Benson singled home freshman left fielder Kenzi Denzer to kickstart the rally. She then advanced to second base via defensive indifference to put the go-ahead run into scoring position.
Similar to the GlenOak game on Thursday, senior centerfielder Kaylee Nolte delivered a go-ahead 2-run single scoring freshman right fielder Brooke Haren from third and Benson from second base to put Louisville in front 6-5.
Nolte advanced to second base on the play and then switched spots with Stillwagon after she doubled to center field on the next pitch. With that insurance run, the Leopards held a 7-5 lead heading into the seventh.
Louisville senior starting pitcher Cloie Ensley retired 3 of the 4 Lake batters she faced in the final inning to earn the complete game victory. Ensley improved to 5-4 on the season with the win.
Louisville Out-Hits Lake 11-9
The Lady Blue Streaks were led by second baseman Brooklyn Ury who went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs. Centerfielder Jocelyn Guior finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Catcher Krista Handy also recorded an RBI double and first baseman Tessa Dutton an RBI single earlier to give Lake the lead at the start of their 4-run second inning.
The Leopards out-hit the Blue Streaks 11-9 for the game. Junior third baseman Jenna Collins and Denzer both finished with 2 hits each for LHS as well. Denzer’s 2-out single to centerfield plated Nolte in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to 4-3 at the time.
Leopards Vs. Blue Streaks Softball Series
Louisville has now taken 4 of their last 5 matchups against Lake overall. The Leopards still trail the all-time series 21-31, but hold a 5-3 edge over the Blue Streaks in games played on a neutral field. This is the second time the two teams have played each other as part of the George Duhon Memorial Tournament. Louisville also won their other meeting at Genshaft 8-4 back in 2017.
<<< Previous 2019 Tournament | Lake All-Time Series
Brachter Passes Crislip with 80th Career Victory
The victory is the 80th of Louisville Leopards Head Coach Andrea Bratcher’s career. Following Saturday’s win over Lake she is now 80-16 (.833) overall in this her fourth season at the helm.
With the win, she passes Rick Crislip for second place in all-time coaching victories for the Lady Leopards softball program. Crislip compiled a record of 79-59 (.572) in five seasons from 2002-2006.
Below is a look at all the coaches in the history of the Louisville softball program in order by most victories:
| Coach | W | L | Win % | Years | Seasons |
| Chet Givens | 168 | 50 | .771 | 8 | 2009-2016 |
| Andrea Bratcher | 80 | 16 | .833 | 4 | 2017-Present |
| Rick Crislip | 79 | 59 | .572 | 5 | 2002-2006 |
| Jeff Couto | 74 | 66 | .529 | 6 | 1994-1999 |
| Connie Surowicz | 48 | 57 | .457 | 5 | 1989-1993 |
| Joe Greco | 32 | 25 | .561 | 2 | 2000-2001 |
| Tom Chlebeck | 30 | 57 | .345 | 4 | 1985-1988 |
| Andy Hostetler | 15 | 39 | .278 | 2 | 2007-2008 |
| TOTAL | 526 | 369 | .588 | 36 |
VARSITY SOFTBALL BOX SCORE
LEOPARDS 7, BLUE STREAKS 5
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Lake 040-100-0–5-9-0
Louisville 102-004-X–7-11-0
LAKE BLUE STREAKS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Ury | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Dusman | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taylor Finefrock | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maggie Pertee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Krista Handy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Emma DeGeorge | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashley Hoisington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tessa Dutton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jocelyn Guior | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nora Haddon | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 30 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
LAKE BLUE STREAKS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nora Haddon | 6.0 | 83 | .651 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 6.0 | 83 | .651 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matti Benson | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaylee Nolte | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Lauren Stillwagon | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jenna Collins | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brooke Brendle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenzi Denzer | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shelby Mayle | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kendra Thomas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kat Frase | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brooke Haren | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cloie Ensley | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 29 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloie Ensley | 7.0 | 73 | .753 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 7.0 | 73 | .753 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Records: Louisville 7-6
