SOFTBALL: Late Louisville Rally Forces Split with Perry
JORDAN MONNOT’S WALK-OFF DOUBLE IN GAME 2
Game 1: Perry 4, Louisville 2
Perry used three home runs to take down the Leopards 4-2 in game one of a doubleheader at the LHS Field of Dreams Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Leopards were poised for a big first inning when they loaded the bases with no outs. Clean-up hitter Chandler Rice hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought home Brittany Flanigan to get the Leopards on the scoreboard. After that, Annie Woolf drew a walk to re-load the bases and Amy Hoover did the same to earn an easy RBI putting Louisville ahead 2-0 after one.
Perry choose to replace Abbey Filliez with Abbey Cameron on the mound in the second inning. Cameron pitched the remainder of the game and retired 18 Leopards in 22 at-bats. Consequently, Louisville didn’t score again.
Meanwhile, Perry used the long ball to to get back in the game and eventually take the lead. Perry’s ninth hitter, Sophomore Ashley Beck, blasted two solo shots in third and seventh inning. Senior Rachel Montgomery also crushed a 2-run blast in the fourth that also drove home Jayla Saibene.
Flanigan’s double in the seventh looked to spark a Leopard rally, but Cameron retired the next two hitters to clinch the 4-2 win for the Panthers.
Game 2: Louisville 8, Perry 7
The Lady Leopards rallied back from a 7-2 sixth inning deficit and won the game 8-7 on Jordan Monnot’s two-run double in the seventh. Monnot finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs to lead the Leopards to their fifth win in six games.
Things look dismal again for the Lady Leps after Perry put together a five-run fifth inning. However, Louisville batted around the lineup in the bottom half of the inning and answered back with four runs of their own. Woolf singled and Hoover walked to start the Leopard rally. Then Carlee Baumgardner found a hole on the left side of the infield for a single to load the bases for Monnot.
Monnot crushed a pitch down the right field line for single bringing home the pinch-running Hollyann Mullett and Amy Hoover to cut the deficit to 7-4. Baumgarnder then came home on a sac fly from Flanigan for an additional run. Then Emily Isla launched a screaming single to right that found grass so fast that it barely allowed her to beat the throw to first. But she did and Monnot came across to narrow the gap to just one run.
Woolf and Hoover again led off the seventh inning by reaching base. With no outs, Coach Chet Givens sent in Kylie Zifer to pinch-hit for Brooke Cox. Givens had just brought Zifer up from JV that day to fill an open roster spot created by Shelby Swigert’s injury in practice Friday. Zifer lived up to the move by punching a single to right just past the glove of the Perry second baseman. Ducks on the pond, no outs.
Two batters later Monnot cranked a 1-0 pitch to the track in right-center. Just like in the sixth inning, her blast brought home both Mullett and Hoover to give the Lady Leopards a stunning 8-7 victory over Perry.
The Lady Leopards are now 5-19 all-time against the Panthers, but in the last two season have taken 3 out of 5. As high profile of a regular season match-up as this was, this is just a teaser to a possible rematch between these two squads in Massillon come May.
Game 1 Box Score
Coming Soon
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Perry 001-200-1–4-7-1
Louisville 200-000-0–2-5-2
Game 2 Box Score
Coming Soon
Team 123-456-7–R-H-E
Perry 010-015-0–7-14-0
Louisville 002-004-2–8-12-1
Records: Louisville 5-1
NEXT UP: The Lady Leps will host the Minerva Lions on Tuesday, April 3 at 4:30 PM. The JV squad will play at home during the same time.
PICTURES
JV REPORT
Game 1
Perry 12, Louisville 2
Keri Hupp hit a home run in the fourth inning for the Lady Leps, but that’s all the offense the Leopards JV squad could muster as Perry defeated Louisville 12-2. Perry pitchers held the Lady Leps to just 4 hits for the game.
Game 2
Perry 18, Louisville 0, 5 innings
The Panthers batted around the lineup once in the second inning and fifth inning as they exploded for an 18-0 win over Louisville in 5 innings. Perry scored eight runs in the final inning to secure the run-rule victory.
JV PICTURES
Pictures Taken By Kyle Hupp