Louisville Sunk By Lake in District Semifinal – Softball

#6 Lake 5, #2 Louisville 3

The #2 Seed Louisville Leopards fell to the #6 Seed Lake Blue Streaks 5-3 Tuesday Evening in the DI Massillon District Semifinals held at the Eagles #190 Sports Complex. With the loss, Louisville drops to 21-4 on the season.

Leopards Lead-off Hitter Sydney McKeever batted 2-for-4 with a run scored in the first inning and an RBI in the second inning. McKeever dropped in a single to center to start the first inning. She then stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice by Alex Fankhauser, and came home via an RBI double by Kaycee Ollis to make it 1-0 Louisville at the end of the first. 

Donate to Leopard Nation

Donation Amount
Choose Amount$5.00$10.00$20.00$50.00$100.00Other

Lake got their first two runs on one swing. After a strikeout started the frame, Jaelyn Meade walked and Emily Lippe doubled to put both runners in scoring position. Both were driven in by Jessica Lebeau’s 2-run single to right field that gave the Blue Streaks a 2-1 advantage.

The Leopards answered back in the bottom of the second. Ellie Jackson drew a 1-out walk and then Rylee Squire reached base on a fielder’s choice. Next, Peyton McKeever got on base with two outs via an error that put her on second and Squire on third to setup the scoring opportunity. Sydney McKeever made the most of it with a 2-out bunt single that scored Squire from third to knot the game at 2-2.

Louisville regained the lead by scoring in their third straight inning in the third. Ollis reached base on an error and advanced to second base on another sacrifice by Fankhauser. On the same play, Ollis advanced too far past second and found herself in a rundown between second and third. The Blue Streaks mishandled an exchange and Ollis slid into third safely. Sarah Cantley laid down a sacrifice bunt on the next pitch which plated Ollis making it 3-2 Leopards.

Neither team scored over the course of the next two innings, but Lake broke through in the sxith to retake the lead. Jaelyn Meade began the inning with a triple to the wall in center. Jordan Meade laid down a sacrifice bunt after that, but Meade found herself in a pickle between third and home. The rundown ended with Jaelyn Meade making it home safely after a Louisville error. On the next pitch, Lippe ripped a double to center scoring Jordan Meade to make it 4-3 Blue Streaks.  

Lake added a 2-out insurance run in the seventh inning when Meade walked with the bases loaded. The Leopards were unable to rally back as Blue Streaks pitcher Katie Herrick retired the final 13 Louisville batters in order to end the game. Herrick pitched a complete game, gave up 1 earned run on 4 hits, and struck out 6 to lead Lake. The Blue Streaks are now 15-9 on the year and will play in the District Title Game Wednesday against the #4 Seed North Canton Hoover Vikings at 4:30 PM at the Eagles #190 Sports Complex.

For the Leopards, Cantley started the first 5 innings, gave up 3 earned runs on 6 hits, and struck out 8. Morgan Harris pitched the final 2 innings, gave up 1 run on 2 hits, and struck out 1.

UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will conclude the season when they host the Marlington Dukes on Friday, May 19 at 5:00 PM. Louisville will share the NBC Title with West Branch with a win.

Pictures

Cover Photo By  Jim & Laura Photography

View & Purchase Louisville Leopards Pictures on the  Jim & Laura Photography Website

Don’t forget to Subscribe to Our Posts for Free

VARSITY BOX SCORE

BLUE STREAKS 5, LEOPARDS 3

Team 123-456-7–R-H-E

Lake 020-002-1–5-8-3

Louisville 111-000-0–3-4-1

LAKE BLUE STREAKS BATTING

Records: Louisville 21-4, Lake 15-9