A hot start led Edgewood to a 9-7 win over visiting Perry on Tuesday and snapped the Pirates’ 78-game Chagrin Valley Conference win streak.
The Pirates had won six straight CVC Lake Division titles during that span.
“It was our first game of the season and the girls came out with a ton of energy and had fun, and just let the game come to them,” said Edgewood coach Randy Vencill. “First game of the year and we started with a win. I hope this propels us into many more wins this season.”
After holding Perry scoreless in the top of the first despite having two runners on base, the Warriors took a 4-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning.
Natalie Ianetta reached on an error to start the rally and McKenna Vencill drew a walk. Mackaylee Overly and Lucianna Paolillo then hit back-to-back RBI singles and Avary Toth doubled home two more runs.
Perry cut Edgewood’s lead to 4-1 in the top of the second on Kendra Konrad’s double that scored Sydney Collins, who started the inning with a single.
The Warriors responded with three runs in the bottom of the second.
Gianna Ianetta was hit by a pitch, Natalie Ianetta walked, and Sophia Paolillo hit a three-run homer two batters later to push the Edgewood lead to 7-1.
Two errors and a walk followed by Maddie Rupert’s RBI single allowed Perry to cut its deficit to 7-3 in the top of the third and it remained that way until Perry used some late-inning magic for the third straight game to tie the score in the sixth.
Elise Strahan hit a one-out double and scored on Emma Pietrzak’s RBI double. Lily Agostine drew a walk and Calli Thompson followed with a two-out, two-run double. Thompson scored on an error that tie the game.
Edgewood used clutch hitting in the bottom of the sixth to score the decisive two runs.
Vencill singled and Sophia Paolillo doubled to put runners at second and third with one out. Overly then doubled to right that gave the Warriors a 9-7 lead.
Strahan reached on an error with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Paolillo retired the next batter to close out the streak-busting victory.
“The key to the game, which there were many, but I would say was Sophia Paolillo’s home run putting us up 7-1,” Coach Vencill said. “It gave us some breathing room but, as always, Perry battled back and took us right to the last out.”
Overly led the Warriors at the plate as she finished the day 4-for-4 with a run scored and three runs batted in. Toth went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Sophia Paolillo knocked in three runs.
In the circle, Luciannna Paolillo allowed three earned runs on nine hits and struck out seven.
Pietrzak and Thompson both had two hits for Perry. Ruper took the loss in the circle after allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts.
