MIDDLEFIELD—Kirtland’s resiliency paid off in a 7-5 season-opening win at upstart Cardinal on Tuesday.
The Huskies used a four-run second to pull away from the Hornets, but Kirtland responded with a four-run inning of its own and added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to seal head coach Nina Christley’s first career victory.
“It was so exciting because this was my first league game, my first high school game coaching, and to finish it off with a ‘W’ is absolutely beautiful,” Christley said. “The fact that we had to come back to do it after we started out losing a little bit, we came back, and the bats came alive. It was a super cool moment.”
Kirtland struck first when Grace Mastrangelo was hit by a pitch with one out in the third inning and scored on Madison Matijevic’s RBI single.
The Huskies, who failed to score in the second after loading the bases with no outs, answered in the bottom half of the inning.
Kelsi Collins singled to start the four-run rally and moved to third on Maggie Grant’s double. Rylie Leichtman then doubled home both runners and scored on a Kirtland error.
Morgan Soltis followed with a single and scored on Kayleigh Duncan’s RBI double.
Down but not out, the Hornets responded with a four-run fourth.
“That was awesome,” Christley said. “This is a good starting point for us in our first game, because we could have hung our heads. This really sets the tones for the next games after this.”
Ava Puruczky hit a one-out single and Megan Reed hit a two-out RBI single to cut Cardinal’s lead to 4-2. Gianna DiFranco followed with an RBI double and then scored on Mastrangelo’s RBI single. Bella Hostutler doubled home Mastrangelo for a 5-4 Hornet lead.
Soltis doubled to start the Cardinal fifth and later scored on Duncan’s RBI double to tie the score at 5-5, but again, Kirtland responded to regain the lead in the top of the sixth.
Reed drew a one-out walk and DiFranco and Mastrangelo hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Hostutler drew a walk to give Kirtland a 6-5 lead and DiFranco stole home to close out the scoring.
Mastrangelo pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth and set the Huskies down in order in the seventh to seal the victory.
She allowed four earned runs on 11 hits and struck out seven in her first career outing.
“We’ve been practicing pitching more and more at practice, which has helped her get a little more comfortable,” Christley said. “The big thing is to make sure Grace can trust her defense behind her and I think we did a pretty good job with that.”
DiFranco and Mastrangelo both finished their day 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Hostutler, Matijevic, Puruczky, and Reed each had one hit for the Hornets, who host Harvey on Wednesday.
Duncan led the Huskies with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and Soltis also finished with three hits. Grant and Leichtman both were 2-for-3.
“Obviously, things didn’t go our way tonight but it’s a start in the right direction,” said Cardinal coach Haley Adams. “With our program, we have some incoming freshmen that are being so competitive and giving us a chance every stop on the field. It just boils down to errors and some baserunning mistakes that hurt us tonight.”
Grant, a freshman, allowed just three earned runs on nine hits and struck out 13 in seven innings while allowing just three free passes.
“We have a bright future with her,” Adams said. “She’s a competitor.”
