Perry’s softball team suffered a tough loss to Edgewood on Thursday but the Pirates jumped right back into a first-place tie in the Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division with a 7-3 win at Madison on Friday.
With the win, the Pirates improved to 15-4 overall and 7-2 in Lake Division play. Edgewood, who the Pirates split with, is 6-2, and Jefferson is 6-3 in league play. Madison is 4-2 with both losses to Perry. With Geneva at 5-3, the regular season’s final weeks should be exciting.
“We had a tough loss yesterday against Edgewood and we knew we needed to win today,” said Perry coach Michelle Carino. “Our girls had a quick memory about yesterday and they came out with good attitudes. They were loose and they were excited to play, and they played well today so this was a good one. The kids were excited, we’re all excited, that they came back and won today.”
Perry jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when Madeline Infalvi hit a one-out single and scored on Elise Strahan’s RBI double.
Strahan moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored on Calli Thompson’s groundout.
“This win felt great for us coming off of our loss to Edgewood yesterday,” Strahan said. “We did some uncharacteristic things yesterday and just couldn’t get back to our game, but I think that today’s win showed our resilience and showed what we are really about. It’s really big for us in the conference standings, but even more so for our confidence because we know what we are capable of.”
The Pirates broke the game open with four runs in the sixth, no easy task off Madison pitcher Kara Mekulsia.
Rosalyn Tharp started the rally with a leadoff single and Maddie Rupert singled with one out. Kendra Konrad’s single loaded the bases and Arianna Rogers singled home a pair of runners for a 4-0 Perry lead. Infalvi loaded the bases with a bunt single and Strahan hit her second RBI double of the game, pushing the lead to 6-0.
Madison cut into the Perry lead with a two-run sixth.
Mekulsia singled to start the rally and scored on Ally Negin’s one-out single. Tori Semple followed with a single, and Addy Behm loaded the bases with a two-out walk. Natalie Best earned an RBI the easy way when she drew a free pass with the bases full of Blue Streaks.
Morgan Winters relieved Rupert in the circle and she pitched the Pirates out of that jam with a 6-2 lead intact.
Tharp’s leadoff double in the top of the seventh led to a Pirate insurance run thanks to Winters, who singled Tharp to third, and Rupert, who grounded out to score the run.
Mekulsia drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and scored on Negin’s double, but Winters struck out the next batter to seal Perry’s win.
“Our starter, Madeline Rupert, she gave us 5 2/3 of really strong innings pitched. She held them to two runs, and that was huge,” Carino said. “We had contributions on offense from everybody in our lineup. Everybody that was batting all contributed in some way, whether it was a hit, RBI, run scored, or a stolen base.”
Infalvi led the Pirates with her 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a run scored. Strahan and Tharp both finished 2-for-4. Tharp scored two runs and Strahan scored one and knocked in three more with a pair of doubles.
When in the batter’s box, Strahan minimized the importance of the game and simply focused on the next pitch.
“My approach is the same in big games as it is in less meaningful ones,” she said. “I always focus on seeing the ball in and making contact as much as possible. Usually, having runners on before me, I try to put the ball in play and good things will come, whether it results in a hit for me or an RBI for the team.”
The Pirates pounded out 13 hits against Mekulsia.
“I think one of the biggest things for us is getting runners on and getting a rally going, whether it’s a walk, hit, or any other situation, getting on base really motivated the next batter and sparks some confidence for everyone,” Strahan said. “Getting the bat on the ball early in the game also helps because we know we’re capable and can be ready to attack right from the first pitch.”
Rupert allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out five in 5 2/3 innings on the way to earning the pitching victory. Winters allowed one earned run on one hit and fanned three in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Negin went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in to lead Madison’s offense. Mekulsia, Semple, Best, and Chelsea McCoy also had hits for the Blue Streaks.
Mekulsia allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits and struck out seven in seven innings.
With the win, the Pirates are back in first place and control their own destiny, at least in earning a share of the conference title.
Perry travels to Geneva on April 29, Jefferson on May 1, and closes out its conference slate at home against Lakeside on May 6. Edgewood has a makeup game at Madison, hosts Conneaut on April 29, Lakeside on May 1, and closes out league play at home against Madison on May 6.
The Pirates need to win out and have Edgewood lose at least one of its remaining four games to win the conference title outright.
“If we can do what we did today, we should be fine, but we need to be confident in our bats and know we can hit,” Carino said. “They have to be confident when they go to bat that they can hit the pitch. We need to hit well and we need to play the defense and we should be okay.”
Cameron Palmer contributed to this story.
