Top Moment #4 Softball Finishes Perfect in NBC, Sets Wins Record

4. Softball Finishes Perfect in NBC, Sets Wins Record

Back on May 12, the Louisville Lady Leopards Softball team demolished former softball powerhouse Marlington on their own field 14-0 en rout to completing a perfect 14-0 run through the NBC.  The win was also the Lady Leps 25th of the season, which broke the school record set in 2011 (24-2).

Louisville went out with a bang as Katie Cozy, Jordan Monnot, and Chandler Rice all hit towering home runs in the mercy-shortened five inning victory.  Monnot’s blast nearly knocked down the statue way beyond the left field fence for her third homer of the season.  Cozy’s crept over the fence in left for her team-leading sixth dinger of the season.  The Freshman shortstop also had back-to-back multi-homer games earlier in the season against Minerva and Salem, a feat that had never previously occurred in Louisville history.

Finally, Rice’s mammoth shot cleared the center field wall by a conservative estimate of 20-30 feet before hopping three times and banging into the Marlington football concession stand. The homer was Rice’s fifth home run of the season and tied her for the Leopards career record of 17 homers (Desi Givens).  This final home run of the Lady Leopards was their 21st of the season, which is the second most in school history (25 in 2011).

While Marlington was the clinching game for the Lady Leps, the two most exciting victories came against Perry and Canfield.  Louisville trailed 7-2 in the sixth inning against the Panthers before rallying for 4 runs in the sixth and getting two more runs off a walk-off double by Monnot in the seventh to earn an 8-7 victory.

At Canfield, the Lady Leps trailed 10-7 in the top of the seventh before producing four runs to take an 11-10 lead.  Shelby Swigert’s two-run single tied the game and Amy Hoover’s 2-out single gave Louisville the lead.  The Cardinals scored another run in the bottom of the inning to send the game into extra innings tied at 11-11, but the Leopards came back with three in the eighth.  Cozy’s RBI triple put Louisville up 12-11 and after two more insurance runs they won the game 14-11.

While Louisville batted around the lineup in several games, equally if not even more impressive was their pitching.  Brittany Flanigan and Gianna Falcone combined to produce 12 shutouts as opponents averaged just 2.55 runs per contest.  Falcone also threw an opening day five-inning no-hitter against GlenOak on March 24.

Overall the 2012 Lady Leps outscored their opponents 255-74 and Louisville softball is now 41-1 in the NBC during the past three seasons.  During the run, Head Coach Chet Givens surpassed Rick Crislip in becoming Louisville’s all-time win leader.  His current record is 84-24 over the past four seasons.

The Lady Leopards softball team is quite possibly the most dominant team for any sport presently at LHS.  They rarely had to comeback in games and were rarely underdogs during the season.  Perhaps this dominance is why I have only put them fourth when it comes to “top moments” as winning for these girls has clearly become the norm.

Top 12 Leopards Sports Moments of 2011-12

Honorable Mention Moments

12. Girls Soccer Scores 24 Goals in 2 Games, Records Fall

11. Poyser Wins Back-To-Back District Wrestling Titles

10. Girls Golf Wins Inaugural NBC Title

9. Girls Tennis Wins 2nd Straight NBC

8. Undefeated Girls Track & Gentry Wins Regional

7. X-Country NBC Domination, Rankin Wins Regional

6. Hoover’s Late Victory Leads to NBC Crown

5. Win at McKinley Leads to Undefeated Season

4. Softball Finishes Perfect in NBC, Sets School Wins Record

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Check back on Leopard Nation to see which 2011-12 moments were the greatest…

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