by The St. Joseph Academy Jaguars hosted the Lorain Titans on a chilly rainy night. It was a super high-scoring contest that saw a lot of stolen bases; however, a huge third inning for the Jaguars allowed them to come out on top, winning 24-8.
The Titans came out on fire to start the contest. Jaly Cortes for Lorain was able to get on base with her first at bat. Alayna Warren would then hit yet another base hit for the Titans to advance runners. After a wild throw to second base, Cortes was able to score a run, and Warren was able to get to third. This made the score 1-0 early into the inning.
Pitcher Gabriela Mandry was having trouble early as she walked Aly Lighty to put runners on both first and third base for the Titans. Lighty would then take advantage of the Jaguars’ defense and steal second base. Mandry would walk her second batter of the game to load the base for Lorain with no outs.
Mandry would walk her third batter in a row to bring in another run for Lorain, making the score 2-0 with bases still loaded and zero outs. Olivia Charlton would step up to the plate for the Titans and get a nice base hit to bring Lighty home to make the score 3-0. The Jaguars’ defense was having a lot of trouble early as they still had zero outs, and bases were still loaded.
The hot bats continued for the Titans as Kyraa Swiger was able to get a base hit to bring in yet another run for the Titans, making the score 4-0 in just the top of the first inning. The Jaguars were having major pitching struggles early on, and Lorain was capitalizing. Mandry’s struggles continued as she had a wild pitch that would allow Jazlyn Miller to steal home and advance runners. This made the score 5-0. Another solid hit by Lorain was had, but the ball went right to Mandry to get their first out of the inning, however, the Titans would get yet another player to bring in a run to make the score 6-0.
Mandry would walk Aleyah Smith for the Titans to put runners on first and third with just one out. Smith would go to steal second base; however, the Jaguars were able to pick up a huge double play and finally get out of the top of the first inning.
Sylvia Mittendorf came out on fire to start for the Jaguars. Mittendorf was able to pick up a nice double and then go on to steal third base as well as home plate to get the Jaguars on the scoreboard and was able to make the score 6-1 Lorain. Elizabeth Gus came right back to steal two more bases for the Jaguars after a wild pitch from Lorain.
Amelia Reyes was walked at her first at bat, and Gus was able to steal her third base of the game, putting her on third. Emily Johnson was able to pick up a huge double for the Jaguars to bring two runners home and make the score 6-3. Charlton, similarly to Mandry, was walking a lot of batters to start the inning, this time walking Morgan Peace.
Marilyn Smith had a nice base hit to advance runners; however, Peace, who was on first base, was tripped up and was ultimately tagged out, leaving runners on first and third for the Jaguars. Smith was able to take off from first base and steal second, and Karin Youssef was able to pick up a double to bring two runs in, making the score 6-5. Yet another base was stolen as Youssef took off from second to third.
Gabriella Croce had a nice base hit for the Jaguars and was able to bring in another run to tie the game at 6 apiece. The bats were hot for the Jaguars and were coming back after being down big early. Croce would go on to steal second and then third after a wild pitch from Lorain. Yet another wild pitch would lead Croce to score a run, and Mittendorf was able to pick up a double to make the score 7-6 in favor of St. Josephs to finally end the first inning.
Mandry started off the second inning for the Jaguars by walking Warren. Mandry would then walk her second batter in a row, this time putting runners on both first and second base. Miller would have had a nice base hit; however, as Warren was running to third, the ball hit her and was tagged out, giving the Jaguars their first out of the inning. The Jaguars would then pick up a big double play to get them out of the top of the second inning without allowing any runs.
Reyes came back out for the Jaguars and was able to get on first base right away. Johnson would then respond with a huge double, but the ball would then go under the fence, getting herself to second base and Reyes to third. The Jaguars would then score two more runs from Reyes and Johnson, and the score was 9-6 going into the third inning.
Charlton came out with a huge double as the ball went under the fence. Mandry would walk Jaila Kirksey, and Lorain would bring in a run to make the score 9-7. Mandry would continue to walk batters, and the Jaguars would allow Kirksey to steal third and Smith to steal second. Warren would then respond with a huge double to make the game 9-8 before ending the inning.
Lorain would start the bottom of the third by walking Mandry. The Jaguars coaching staff would then replace Mandry with Ailish Ruane as a pinch runner. Ruane took advantage of her speed and was able to steal second base. Croce would then hit a huge triple to bring Ruane home to make the score 10-8.
Croce would steal home for the Jaguars to go up 11-8. Gus had a nice base hit where she would then steal second base. It was all Jaguars as their bats were hot, and they were stealing bases left and right. Reyes would have yet another huge double to bring Gus in for a run, making the score 12-8.
This was a common occurrence throughout the entire third inning. The bats were on absolute fire for the Jaguars, and bases were being stolen left and right to build a huge lead for the Jaguars. The Jaguars were able to build a huge lead, making the score 22-8. This is when Lorain finally decided to make a pitching change, subbing Charlton out for Warren. The Jaguars were able to score 4 more runs before intentionally getting their batters out to stop the bleeding for Lorain.
The top and bottom of the fourth inning were significantly slower compared to the third inning. Both sides were able to get nice hits and get players on base, however, both the Jaguars and Titans were able to manage three quick outs to get out of the fourth inning.
Lorain was up to bat to start the fifth inning and was able to get a base hit to start. Mandry would then walk another batter to put runners on first and second for the Titans. However, the game would then end in the fifth inning with a crazy triple play as well as the Jaguars being up 10+ runs.
The player of the game for the St. Joseph Academy Jaguars was Sylvia Mittendorf, and the player of the game for the Lorain Titans was Alayna Warren.
