Mount softball completes sweep of Pandas

Posted 5/23/16

Mount junior Sophia Little went the distance in the circle in last week’s big road win at Nazareth. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption] by Tom Utescher For the first time any Mountie could remember, …

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Mount softball completes sweep of Pandas

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Mount junior Sophia Little went the distance in the circle in last week’s big road win at Nazareth. (Photo by Tom Utescher) Mount junior Sophia Little went the distance in the circle in last week’s big road win at Nazareth. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

by Tom Utescher

For the first time any Mountie could remember, Mount St. Joseph Academy completed a sweep of Nazareth Academy last Wednesday afternoon to stay in the running for second place in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies.

In their second game of the season, the Magic had come from behind to top Nazareth in extra innings. The recent rematch actually ended one inning early, as the Mount took quickly took charge and beat the Pandas on the own patch at Fluehr Park, 13-3.

Junior Sophia Little, one of the three main pitchers in the Mount rotation, threw all six innings to record two strike-outs and four walks.

Alex Matlock went the distance for Nazareth, with one strike out and three bases on balls. The Magic outhit the Pandas, 10-4.

Climbing to an AACA record of 9-4, the Mount kept pace with St. Basil Academy in the league standings, behind undefeated Villa Maria. St. Basil and the Mount had played once head-to-head in mid-April, when the Panthers defeated the Magic, 9-4.

Both ballclubs lost twice to Villa Maria. Besides those games and their loss to Basil’s, the Magic dropped one of two contests against Gwynedd Mercy for their fourth defeat. The Panthers swept Gwynedd, but beside their losses to Villa, they had to settle with series splits with both Merion Mercy and Sacred Heart, teams Mount St. Joseph beat twice.

After a modest beginning for the Mount batters last Wednesday, Nazareth took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. MSJ’s Little gave up two walks and two runs here, but after that she homed in and only yielded two bases on balls and two hits over the next five innings.

After a fly to center to start the second, the Magic got senior Mary Buckley and Little on base through an error and a walk. When junior Ava Jancarski made contact, the Pandas threw the ball out of play behind first base, landing Jancarski on second and scoring the visitors’ first run. Nazareth shortstop Dom Misnik leapt high to get her glove on a ball hit by Mount sophomore Lila Moore, but she could not hold on for a catch and a second MSJ run scored.

After junior Angela Gervasi’s poke to the left side glanced off the third baseman, Misnik scooped up the ball and threw to first, but it was too late to nail Gervasi, and another run came in for the Magic. Next, an errant throw pulled the first baseman off the bag; batter Daria Vining (a senior) was safe and so was the fourth Mount St. Joe runner to cross the plate. Nazareth was able to throw out senior Kailey Karabin on a grounder, but she picked up an RBI for a 5-2 tally.

Nazareth got one run back in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Misnik, but the Pandas would not score again that afternoon.

Only one run was added to the scoreboard over the next two innings, as MSJ junior Julie Burns led off the third with a solo home run to centerfield.

In the bottom of the fourth, Nazareth got its first batter on base through an MSJ error and then saw her move to second on a sacrifice ground-out. The inning then concluded quickly as the next batter put the ball in play toward Karabin, the Mount second baseman. She nabbed a relatively low pop-up and then doubled up the Panda baserunner, who had strayed too far off second.

Burns led off for the Mount again, this time drawing a walk and then moving to second as Buckley bopped the ball into shallow center. Little grounded out, but advanced the runners to second and third. Jancarski also grounded out, picking up an RBI to make it 7-3. Moore and Gervasi hit balls that fell in along the right field line and in shallow centerfield, respectively, each bringing in a run.

After the Magic sent their hosts down in order in the bottom half, they took a 9-3 advantage into the sixth frame.

With one out, MSJ’s Jessie Burns got aboard with a soft hit down the first base line. Fellow senior Jenna Ruch subbed in to run for the Mount catcher, then the other Burns sister, Julie, doubled to center. On that play, Ruch ignored instructions from the base coach to slide into third, getting there safely (barely) standing up.

However, with a run now at stake, Ruch got down in the dirt and slid under the tag as Nazareth went home with a ball bunted by Buckley.

The play at the play allowed Buckley to reach second, so there were now Mounties on second and third base. Both of them came home when there was a Panda error on ball hit by Little, making it 12-3.

Senior Mairead Denton came in to run for Little, the pitcher, and she stole second just before the Pandas gloved a pop-up for the second out.

Moore drove an RBI line drive into centerfield, then the side was retired with a ground-out.

The Magic now had the 10-run lead (13-3) necessary to end the game early, as long as they did not allow Nazareth to score in the bottom of the sixth. The first two batters grounded out to Gervasi at short and lined out to Karabin at second, but Kate Driscoll gave the hosts a hint of hope with a single down the third base line.

Driscoll moved to second as the visitors committed a fielding error on the next play, but that’s as far as the Pandas got, as Little charged in from the circle to catch a short pop-up, ending the game.

UPDATE – Mount St. Joseph finished the league season in sole possession of second place thanks to Thursday’s 11-7 victory at St. Basil.

Starting for the second day in a row, Little struck out three batters and walked two before retiring with one out in the fifth inning. Julie Burns (two strike outs, no walks) came in to finish out the game.

At the plate, Gervasi was four-for-five with a double and three singles. She drove in two runs and scored four times, helping the Magic steadily build a 6-1 lead over the first four innings. A five-run burst by St. Basil tied the game, 6-6, in the fifth inning, and each team scored once in the sixth to make it 7-7.

The Mount regained control by putting up four runs in the top of the seventh, when Little, Moore, and Vining each had an RBI single and one run came home on an error. Now up 11-7 and just needing three outs to seal the victory, the Magic faltered momentarily on defense as the bottom of the seventh began.

Two MSJ errors assisted St. Basil as the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs. The Mounties snapped back into focus and got two force-outs at the plate on infield grounders. Julie Burns, who had the second of these put-outs, then struck out the next batter to end the game and give the mount a final league record of 10-4.

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