Seven Run Comeback Seals 5th Straight NBC Title for Lady Leps

By Leopard Nation · May 10, 2013

Video Highlights

Louisville 10, West Branch 9

The Lady Leopards erased a 7-0 second inning deficit en rout to claiming their fifth consecutive Outright NBC Softball Championship! Annie Woolf homered twice in the contest and Grace Jackson delivered a walk-off RBI single to lead Louisville to a nail-biting 10-9 victory.

The Warriors struck early and often in the opening two innings in scoring 7 runs via 9 hits. At one point West ranch pounded out five consecutive singles in the second inning. However, there was no panic in the Lady Leopards who slowly but surely chipped away at the Warrior lead by scoring in each of the next four innings.

Woolf blasted two home runs in back-to-back innings to up her season total to four on the season. Both her two-run homer in the second and solo shot in the third cleared the fence in right field. Woolf would finish with three hits on the evening.

Katie Cozy and Chandler Rice also drove in runs via sacrifices as Louisville trailed by just two runs after three innings. West Branch tallied a run in the fourth inning to make it 8-5 Warriors. However, an RBI double by Amy Hoover and an RBI single by Shelby Swigert in the bottom half of the frame trimmed the lead to the smallest of margins.

The Lady Leps loaded the bases to begin the fifth inning and the comeback became a reality. Brooke Cox sacrificed Jordan Monnot home and Hoover singled in Keri Hupp to give Louisville their first lead of the contest at 9-8. Hoover finished with three hits for the game.

West Branch appeared to have seized momentum back in the sixth inning. The Warriors Bailey McElwain homered to the parking lot in left field to tie the ball game at 9 a piece. Louisville then failed to score in the bottom half of the inning, which kept the game even.

Louisville’s defense came through in the seventh as they sent West Branch down 1-2-3 for only the second time in the game. Gianna Falcone finished with 5 strikeouts in the circle as well.

Monnot doubled to begin the last of the seventh and Hupp reached base via an error. This left runners on first and second with no one out. On a 3-2 pitch, Freshman Grace Jackson grounded the ball into left-center field to score Monnot for the NBC-Clinching run. With the 10-9 win, the Lady Leopards are now 19-2 overall and 12-0 in the NBC. The loss drops West Branch to 18-4 overall and 9-3 in the NBC, ensuring Louisville their fifth straight Outright NBC Championship.

With the victory, Louisville has defeated West Branch in 19 consecutive meetings and leads the all-time series 39-15. The Lady Leopards have now won 36 consecutive NBC match-ups and 9 straight games overall.

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BOX SCORE

LEOPARDS 10, WARRIORS 9

Team 123-456-7–R-H-E

West Branch 160-101-0–9-13-0

Louisville 023-220-1–10-16-0

BATTING:

Hoover | 3-4 | 2B, 2 1B, 2 RBI, 2 Runs

Swigert | 2-3 | 2B, 1B, RBI, Run

Cozy | 2-2 | 2 1B, BB, SAC, RBI

Rice | 1-3 | 1B, SAC, RBI Run

Woolf | 3-4 | 3-4 | 2 HR, 1B, 3 RBI, 2 Runs

— Givens | 0-0 |

Monnot | 2-4 | 2B, 1B, 2 Runs

Hupp | 2-3 | 2 1B, BB, 2 Runs

Jackson | 1-3 | 1B, RBI

— Zifer | 0-1 |

Cox | 0-1 | 2 SAC, RBI

PITCHING:

Falcone W (19-2) | 7 Innings, 34 AB, 5 Strikeouts, 0 BB, 13 Hits, 9 Runs

JV: Louisville 6, West Branch 3

UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next host a triple-header on Saturday, May 11. The Lady Leps will play Solon at 11 AM, then watch Lake Vs. Solon at 1 PM, and finally matchup with Lake at 3 PM. The JV squad will be at Lake during the same time. The Softball team is also having a canned food drive at the Varsity Field during these games, come donate to the community and support your Lady Leopards!