PEPPER PIKE—Lutheran West scored in five of the seven innings played in a 15-3 win at Orange on Thursday.
With the win, the Longhorns improved to 3-0 on the season.
“It’s super awesome, especially with the young team we have,” said Lutheran West coach Amy Sullivan. “We have a ton of inexperienced players, so to start the season 3-0 is awesome.”
Lutheran West entered the game averaging 18 runs per contest, and it didn’t take the Longhorns long to find their groove against the Lions.
They scored three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning.
Peyton Steinbrenner started the rally with a one-out single and Leslie Sullivan reached on an error. Kellie Kashubeck and Kennedy Hughes hit back-to-back RBI singles for a 2-0 lead and Leah Miller reached on an error that allowed Kashubeck to score the third run of the inning.
Sullivan struck out all three Lions she faced in the bottom half of the inning, and then in the third, she singled to start a seven-run inning.
Kashubeck followed with a single and Larissa Sullivan doubled home her sister for a 4-0 lead. Hughes knocked in another run with a groundout and Miller reached on an infield single. Alexia Martir reached on an error that allowed Larissa Sullivan to score. Kailyn Caster’s RBI single pushed the lead to 7-0 and Martir scored on an error. Steinbrenner then hit a two-run double that gave the Longhorns a 10-0 advantage.
The Lions avoided the shutout with a run in the bottom of the fourth.
Jillian Yard drew a walk, stole second and third, and then scored on a wild pitch.
The Longhorns responded with a run in the fifth when Gabby List singled and Steinbrenner hit a two-out triple to center.
Orange manufactured a pair of runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Halle Arnold drew a walk, Sarah Korland singled to left field, and Kelsey Lewis followed with a two-run single.
Sullivan struck out the next batter to end the threat.
The Longhorns went right back to work in the sixth as Kashubeck reached on an error and scored on a Hughes groundout.
Lutheran West closed out the scoring with three runs in the seventh.
List reached on an error and stole three bases, including home. Alexandra Orozco also reached on an error and advanced to second on Hayes’ single to center. Kashubeck singled home Orozco and Hayes stole home for a 15-3 lead.
“(The girls are) seeing the ball, which is good,” Coach Sullivan said. “We’re not swinging at absurd pitches, which I saw in the preseason. They’re being discerning; we bunted super well today, which is something we haven’t done well. I feel like they’re being picky in the box has been the biggest key for us these first three games.”
Leslie Sullivan struck out two Lions in the bottom of the seventh and closed out the game with 14 strikeouts.
She allowed three earned runs on two hits and walked five.
“Today, I felt a lot more comfortable,” she said. “I worked on letting (Orange) put the ball in play and trusting my teammates to do the rest. I know that we can put up a lot of runs. Even today, I gave up a couple of runs, and it didn’t matter because (the offense) was able to come back out and put up more runs of their own.”
Coach Sullivan holds a lot of confidence in her pitcher following this outing.
“She’s in control, I think, more than I’ve ever seen her in control,” she said of Leslie Sullivan. “We need to work on her off-speed pitches because we’re going to face good hitting teams that will time her up, but she is throwing pretty hard.”
The offense, defense, and pitching have all worked cohesively for Lutheran West so far in three contests.
“Every game, we’re getting a little bit better (at something),” coach Sullivan said. We’re going to have to keep it up to compete with Independence and Cuyahoga Heights; we’ve just never been able to. I think this would be the year.”
Kashubeck led the potent Longhorn offense at the plate as she finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Steinbrenner finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, and Hughes also drove in three runs. Larissa Sullivan collected two hits with an RBI, and Caster finished the game with one hit, one run scored, and an RBI.
Lewis and Korland recorded hits for the Lions.
Clare Hess started in the circle for Orange and went seven innings. She allowed just two earned runs on 14 hits and struck out seven.
Lutheran West hosts Independence on April 2 while Orange will visit Ravenna on March 30 for a double-header.
