Leopards Crack 4 Homers in Loss to Lake – Softball
Lake 9, Louisville 7
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball Team fell to the Lake Blue Streaks 9-7 in a seesaw battle Friday Evening at the George Duhon Memorial Tournament held at Genshaft Memorial Park in Massillon. With the loss, Louisville drops to 4-7 on the year.
Leopards Use Long Ball to Rally From Early Deficit
The Leopards trailed 3-0 early, but would rally back with seven straight runs to take a 7-3 advantage. All seven runs would come via four Louisville home runs.
Freshman outfielder Matti Adams led off the top of the third inning with a solo shot to center field. The home run was the first of Adams’ varsity career and it put the Lady Leopards on the board. Three batters later, senior catcher Brooke Brendle smashed a two-run homer to right field to tie the game at 3-3.
Sophomore third baseman Kenzi Denzer blasted a three-run jack to right field with two outs in the top of the fourth. The homer was Denzer’s third of the season and it gave Louisville a 6-3 advantage.
In the top of the fifth, senior first baseman Jenna Collins also went yard with a solo homer to center field to extend the Leopard lead to 7-3. For Collins, it was her team leading fourth home run of the season and the 15th as a team for Louisville.
Adams and Collins would both finish with two hits at the plate for LHS.
Blue Streaks Storm Back in Fifth
The Lady Leopards four-run cushion did not prove to be enough as the Lady Streaks rallied with six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to retake the lead.
The first five Lake batters reached base to start the inning. Second baseman/catcher Krista Handy and first baseman Tessa Dutton cracked back-to-back RBI singles to shrink the Louisville lead to 7-5. Then right fielder Alex Dusman drove home another run via a groundout to cut the margin to a run.
The Blue Streaks took the lead back at 8-7 when designated hitter Ashley Hoisington hit a two-run single to center field. Two batters later, shortstop Olivia Brown delivered an RBI single to put Lake ahead 9-7.
Pitcher Ava Roberts, who only worked the fifth inning in relief, earned the decision as a result. Pitcher Courtney Koli came on to close out the sixth and seventh innings without allowing a run. She earned the save for Lake.
Handy and Ward Record Multi-Hit Games
Handy batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs and second baseman Makenzie Ward went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the Lady Streaks. Handy’s two-run double brought home third baseman Brooklyn Ury and Ward to give Lake an early 2-0 lead. Dutton followed with a sacrifice fly that brought home courtesy runner Lexi Pachan to put the Blue Streaks in front 3-0.
Lake would end up out-hitting Louisville for the game 11-8.
Leopards Vs. Blue Streaks Softball History
The loss snaps the Lady Leopards two game winning streak against the Lady Blue Streaks. Louisville is now 21-32 against Lake all-time, but still holds a 5-4 edge when the two teams meet at a neutral location. All of those neutral contests have been played in Massillon at multiple sites.
This is the third time the Leopards have played the Blue Streaks at the George Duhon Memorial Tournament. Louisville won 8-4 in 2017 and also defeated Lake 7-5 in 2021 during the Duhon Tournament.
<<< Previous 2021 | Lake All-Time Series
Cover Photo By The Louisville Herald
VARSITY SOFTBALL BOX SCORE
BLUE STREAKS 9, LEOPARDS 7
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Louisville 003-310-0–7-8-2
Lake 300-060-X–9-11-0
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenzi Denzer | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Matti Benson | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brooke Brendle | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Jenna Collins | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shelby Mayle | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Paige Folk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| –Riley Walters | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Caitlin Thouvenin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Olivia Mongiardo | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matti Adams | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Katie Heath | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kendra Thomas | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 28 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 7 |
LOUISVILLE LEOPARDS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katie Heath | 5.0 | 75 | .613 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kendra Thomas | 1.0 | 14 | .429 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 6.0 | 89 | .584 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
LAKE BLUE STREAKS SOFTBALL VARSITY BATTING STATS
| Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Ury | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jocelyn Quior | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Makenzie Ward | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Krista Handy | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tessa Dutton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Dusman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashley Hoisington | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Autumn Fowler | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| –Courtney Koli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Olivia Brown | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Josie Mauller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lexi Pachan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Riley Sweitzer | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| –Ava Roberts | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 28 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
LAKE BLUE STREAKS SOFTBALL VARSITY PITCHING STATS
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | SO | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Fowler | 4.0 | 65 | .662 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Ava Roberts | 1.0 | 12 | .833 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Courtney Koli | 2.0 | 23 | .565 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 7.0 | 100 | .660 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
Records: Louisville 4-7
