WILLOUGHBY — In a game that never lacked for momentum swings, the West Geauga softball team delivered every answer it needed.
And when South softball kept punching back, the Wolverines kept responding.
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“That team’s feisty. They put the ball in play, and they have some great hitters on that team, too. Some days, you’ve got to win 10-6 where a team is going to get runs, and you have to answer the bell,” said West Geauga head coach Mark Percassi. “Kudos to our girls, because in the end, we put bunts down when it counted, we put the ball in play when it counted, and we made them make hard plays. Ultimately, it went in our favor.”
West Geauga jumped out early and never trailed, fending off multiple South rallies to secure a 10-6 road win Tuesday.
The Wolverines wasted no time setting the tone. Dayana Malone and Ava Borz opened the game with singles, and Morgan Atwara followed with a two-run single to center to give West Geauga a 2-0 lead in the first.
South answered in the second. Halle Zupancic sparked the inning with a double and later scored on a fielder’s choice, while Casey Heil‘s deep drive to center forced an error that brought Savannah Patton home to even the score at 2-2.
West Geauga responded immediately.
Borz singled with one out in the third, setting the stage for Atwara again — this time delivering a two-run blast to left-center to put the Wolverines back in front, 4-2.
Makayla Schneider trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom half with a two-out solo home run to left, but the Wolverines created separation in the fifth.
A two-run error plated Atwara and Borz, and Gabby Donofrio followed with a two-out, two-run double to extend the lead to 8-3.
South refused to go away.
Zupancic drove in a run on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice, and back-to-back RBI singles from Mariya Reed and Ava Proctor cut the deficit to 8-6 in the fifth, bringing the tying run to the plate.
West Geauga delivered the final answer in the seventh.
Donofrio came through again with an RBI double, and Allie Arrigo added a sacrifice bunt that brought home another run, pushing the lead to 10-6 — a margin that held.
“Credit to (Lely Percassi) for holding them in the seventh. Our team is very capable of playing even better defense, and they know that, but again, they’re resilient, and they fought back, and they overcame,” Percassi said. “South is a good hitting team; they make things happen, so this was a big win for us. We lost to them last year here, and we got crushed, so it’s still in our minds, because we just didn’t show up to play. But our kids showed up today.”
With the win, West Geauga improved to 7-3 and continued to build momentum.
“There are bigger battles ahead, but this is a big one, and we knew it. South is well-coached and works hard, so we’ll get to host them in a couple of weeks. We’ve got to be ready for that and other battles on the way,” Percassi said.
South, meanwhile, showed plenty of fight despite the loss.
“We just have to pick ourselves up. We’ve got two big games up next against Chardon, and we know they’re a tough team,” said South head coach Rusty Bliss. “They’re pretty good, but I feel like we are too. This is a good matchup for us in West G over the last couple of years, so it’s nice. It goes back and forth.”
Bliss believes the performance still provided value moving forward.
“These girls know where they have to go, and they know how far they have to reach. We’ve been in some predicaments this year where they’ve had to reach down deep and fight back,” Bliss said. “They know this team that we played today is a good team, and now they know the measuring stick. Tomorrow they’ll come out fighting against Chardon. I’m sure of it.”
West Geauga hosts Lutheran West in CVC play while South travels to Chardon for a WRC showdown on April 22.
Top Players
- Morgan Atwara (West Geauga): 3-4, 4 RBI
- Gabby Donofrio (West Geauga): 2-4, 3 RBI
- Dayana Malone (West Geauga): 3-4, 2 R
- Ava Borz (West Geauga): 2-4, 2 R
- Faelynn Beckrest (West Geauga): 1-3, 2 R
- Makayla Schneider (South): 3-4, HR, RBI
- Halle Zupancic (South): 2-4, RBI, 2B
- Ava Proctor (South): 1-4, RBI
- Mariya Reed (South): 1 RBI
- Savannah Patton (South): 1 H, R
- Paige Janson (South): 1 H
Pitching
- Lely Percassi (West Geauga): W, 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K
- Halle Zupancic (South): L, 7 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K (200th career strikeout)
More Softball Coverage From OhioVarsity.com
- West Geauga Softball
- South Softball
- CVC Softball Standings: April 20
- WRC Softball Standings: April 20
- Softball News
