by It was a gloomy afternoon as the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs took the road to take on the Avon Eagles. It was a hard-fought contest that saw the Eagles come out victorious, winning 3-1.
The Bulldogs started the inning by batting first. The game began with Eagles pitcher Maria Young walking Hailey Klamut of the Bulldogs, putting her on first base. Brooke Largent was up to bat next and was having a nice at bat and fighting hard but was tagged out. Young threw a wild pitch that was mishandled by Avon’s catcher, who was able to get Klamut onto second base.
Elena Vroutos was batting next and had great contact with the ball but ended up in a pop-out to give the Eagles two outs; however, another mishandled ball by the Avon catcher was able to get Klamut onto third. Molly Sheehan was up to bat next but was ultimately walked by Young to give herself her second walk in the inning, and the Bulldogs had runners on first and third. Young was off to a rough start for the Eagles as she threw yet another wild pitch to get Sheehan onto second, however, Young was able to come through and get her team out of the top of the first without allowing any runs.
Jocelyn Ochs was looking to start things off right for the Eagles on offense as she took the plate to start the bottom of the first. Ochs had great contact with the ball, however, it resulted in a pop-out, giving the Bulldogs a quick first out. Sheehan was serving pitchers left and right and was able to pick up two strikeouts to ultimately end the inning with neither team scoring.
Ashley Scott for the Bulldogs started the second inning off with a huge hit out to center field, but Lauren Fischer was able to make a remarkable leaping play to get Scott out. The bats were hot for the Bulldogs as Sydney Busser was able to pick up a nice double. Despite the hot bats the bulldogs had, Avon was able to get out of the top of the second fairly quickly. Sheehan was serving pitches left and right for the Bulldogs and was able to pick up three strikeouts in the second.
Young started the third inning, pitching a lot better and finding her groove, picking up a strikeout on the first batter. The Bulldogs’ bats were still on fire and were continuing to get players on base, finding themselves with two on and two out. However, Avon was able to find a way to get out of the inning yet again without allowing any runs.
Lauren Robinson was at bat for the Eagles to start the bottom of the third and was fighting on a full count. Robinson was ultimately walked to get on base, followed up by a nice hit from Emilee Heilmann to advance the runners. Jenna Smith had a nice sac bunt that was able to advance runners to second and third for the Eagles.
Ochs was up to bat again for the Eagles and hit a huge triple to bring in two runners to make the score 2-0 in the third inning. Fischer was up to bat for the Eagles and was looking to add onto the momentum with a bunt, however, her bunt went right to Sheehan and picked up a quick out. Sheehan was then able to get two more quick outs for the Bulldogs to get out of the third inning.
The Bulldogs came out to kick things off in the fourth inning in hopes of putting some runs on the scoreboard. Scott was able to make great contact with the ball down the line, but it went just foul. Avon was able to pick up three quick outs to get out of the top of the fourth. Sheehan continued to serve as she was able to pick up three straight strikeouts to end the inning.
Similarly to the fourth inning, the Eagles were able to pick up a quick first strikeout. Young was starting to look a lot better late into the game after a slow start as she was able to help her team gather three quick outs. The fifth inning was very slow and very similar to the top of the inning as the Bulldogs picked up three quick outs as well.
The Bulldogs seemed to be picking up some momentum to start the sixth inning as Vroutos was able to get a base hit. Sheehan would then respond with another nice hit to advance runners. Scott was fighting for the Bulldogs and ended up getting hit by a pitch, ultimately loading the bases for the Bulldogs.
Sydney Busser was able to make nice contact with the ball, however, she hit it right to Natalie Thomas, who was able to pick up a nice double play. With bases loaded for the Bulldogs, Avon was able to get out of the top of the sixth without allowing any runs.
Ochs picked up right where she left off to hit a massive triple for the Eagles. Fischer was able to make contact with the ball and pick up a base hit, bringing Ochs home. This made the score 3-0 in favor of the Eagles. However, Sheehan was able to pick up back-to-back strikeouts after the scored run. Young was looking to add to Avon’s score; however, after a nice hit to center field, Largent made a remarkable leaping catch to end the inning.
The Bulldogs came out looking like they were going to make a late-game comeback as Sophia Galarza had a nice base hit. Grace Shorts was battling with Young, but Young was able to come out with the win as she struck Shorts out. A wild pitch from Young resulted in Galarza getting onto second base.
Largent was able to get a nice base hit for the Bulldogs to bring Galarza home to make the score 3-1. Largent was looking to make a late-game push as she ran to steal second. The Bulldogs were fighting for a comeback late; however, Young was able to come through and pick up yet another strikeout to ultimately end the game.
The player of the game for the Avon Eagles was Jocelyn Ochs, and the player of the game for the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs was Molly Sheehan.
