Leopards Meltdown in 7th Vs. Indians 5-4 – Baseball

By Leopard Nation · Published April 23, 2022 · Updated May 28, 2022

Caleb Miller Louisville Leopards Vs. Strongsville Mustangs Baseball 2021

Northwest 5, Louisville 4

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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Baseball Team fell victim to a late rally by the visiting Northwest Indians in their 5-4 loss Saturday Afternoon at Andy Aljancic Field. With the loss, Louisville falls to 9-6 on the year.

Root Strikes Out 6 in Quality Start

Sophomore starting pitcher Zach Root pitched six innings, allowed one unearned run on six hits, and struck out six to lead the Leopards on the hill.

Root’s only blemish came in the opening inning when Northwest shortstop Braden Mick scored on an error. The Indians still had two aboard with one out after the run, but Root struck out the next two hitters to end the inning. He also worked out of a similar scenario in the third inning while keeping Northwest off the board.

Root would retire the side in order in both the second and fourth innings. He would also retire 10 of the final 12 batters he faced through the sixth inning. The only Northwest baserunners were center fielder Trevor Szekely who reached on an error in the fifth and catcher Beau Bleakley who singled to start the sixth. Root still faced the minimum in his final inning of work because left fielder Jake Metzger popped into a double play that picked Bleakley off at first.

Leopards Build 3-1 Lead

While Root shutdown the Tribe, Louisville’s bats managed to push across three runs to give them a two-run cushion heading into the seventh.

Junior catcher Karson Siegfried reached base via an error by the shortstop in the bottom of the first to plate the game-tying run in senior shortstop JT Popick from third.

Louisville captured the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Senior third baseman Caleb Miller singled home junior designated hitter Kyle Vesely to put the Leopards up 2-1. Senior left fielder Connor Adelman followed and drew a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded. Junior second baseman Connor Morley walked home from third to put Louisville ahead 3-1.

Indians Rally in the Seventh

Down to their last out, Northwest rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh to flip a two-run deficit into a two-run lead. Szekely doubled home right fielder Carter Magyarics. Then Mick reached on an error which brought home the game-tying run in Szekely.

In the next at-bat, second baseman Jack Czartosweski hit an RBI single to right field that brought home the go-ahead run in Mick. The Indians also added what proved to be a much needed insurance run when Bleakley singled home Czartosweski to put them up 5-3 after that.

Bleakley, Czartosweski, and Szekely all finished 3-for-4 on the afternoon and accounted for all nine of Northwest’s hits.

Leopards Make Noise in Seventh

Louisville managed to shrink the deficit to a single run in the last of the seventh. Sophomore first baseman Cole Miller and Caleb Miller each cracked their second hit of the game via back-to-back singles. That put runners on the corners with no one out.

Adelman stepped to the plate next and drove home Cole Miller via a 6-4 fielder’s choice to trim the Leopards deficit to 5-4. Junior center fielder Charlie Roberts followed with a single to left field to put Adelman into scoring position. However, Northwest pitcher Josh Smith got out of the jam by striking out the next Louisville batter to end the game.

JV: Louisville 7, Green 5

UP NEXT: The Louisville Baseball Team will next travel to take on the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish on Tuesday, April 26 at 5:00 PM.

Cover Photo By The Louisville Herald

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