Tuesday was a day of dramatic finishes for the Cardinal baseball and softball teams.
Matt Carney’s walk-off single led the Husky baseball team to a 7-6 win over visiting Pymatuning Valley and Faith Peters also had a walk-off hit to lead the softball team to an 8-7 win over the visiting Lakers.
Cardinal’s baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the second then had to come from behind to tie it at 5-5 in the fifth. The Lakers added a run in the top of the sixth but the Huskies rallied in the seventh to win it.
Kyle Root was hit by a pitch with one out and he moved to second on Cam Klepper’s two-out single. Brice Hogue reached on an error to load the bases for Carney.
“The kid (Pymatuning Valley) brought in to pitch was tough,” said Cardinal coach Brian George. “He threw pretty hard. Matt just served it right over the first baseman’s head and Klepper scored. Ball game. The kids were excited. They were going nuts.”
Klepper was 2-for-2 with a run scored and two walks. Hogue finished 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and Blake Hershberger, Jake Gotham, Parker Kosh and Andrew Miller all had hits for the Huskies, who improved to 3-5 overall.
Cardinal travels to Independence on Wednesday.
The softball team’s win was just as exciting.
Peters, who doubled earlier in the game, came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh with a lot of pressure on her in the biggest at bat of her young career.
The freshman shook off the nerves and focused on finding the right pitch to hit.
“I could feel my team cheering for me and as soon as I saw the ball I knew it was the one,” Peters said. “I drove through and felt the power in my arms transfer to the ball. I was so excited when my teammate crossed home plate as I reached first and I heard the rest of my team screaming and the first thing I thought was how happy I was to be a freshman and have a play like that and have my teammates run up and congratulate me shouting my nick name, ‘Peta.’”
Peters isn’t sure exactly how her teammates chose that nickname for her, but she won’t complain.
“I'm not that picky on nicknames,” she said. “I’m grateful to finally have one since I haven't had one all season.”
With the win, the Huskies improved to 2-3 on the year.
“Everybody played hard tonight,” said Cardinal coach Dennis Ikeler. “Our bats were active and Madysin Ciminella pitched another good game. She kept her composure and stayed in there and kept pitching. Hannah Hill really had some nice hits today. Her bat really came alive. The whole team came together and got the clutch hits when we needed them. It was a good game.”
Cardinal hosts Cuyahoga Heights on Wednesday.
