Rosalyn Tharp’s RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning led Perry to a 5-4 win over visiting West Geauga on Tuesday.
The Pirates trailed 4-1 heading into their final three outs before putting together a four-run rally to win their home opener.
“It was very exciting to hit the walk-off hit for our first game,” Tharp said. “I feel like this being our home opener will set the tempo for how we continue to grow and improve as a team, so this was huge, especially to me to help us win our season opener.”
West Geauga took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Haley Ottman hit a leadoff triple and scored on Morgan Atwara’s ground out.
The Wolverines added another run in the fourth when Atwara drew a leadoff walk, Lely Percassi followed with a single, and Shaylynn Rogaski walked to load the bases. Julia Clark then drew a two-out walk to force in a run.
Perry finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates had just one hit in the game up until that point.
Tharp hit a two-out single to start the rally and Calli Thompson followed with a single to put runners at first and second. Sydney Collins then singled home Tharp but the threat ended when Thompson was thrown out trying to advance to third.
A pair of singles and an Ottman double allowed West Geauga to add two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, but Perry didn’t flinch at its 4-1 deficit.
“I feel like starting off the game, we struggled offensively but keeping our energy up and putting errors behind us was huge,” Tharp said “This gave us the tempo for when we started making contact with the pitcher after the beginning of the game.”
Madelyn Rupert was hit by a pitch to start the seventh and scored on an error to cut West Geauga’s lead to 4-2.
Elise Strahan followed with a single to put runners at second and third with two outs.
The Wolverines opted to pitch to Lilly Agostine, whose single to center scored the tying runs and set up Tharp’s walk-off hit.
“I just knew with it being our last at-bats being down by two it was huge for even just a base hit with runners on,” Tharp said. “Before stepping in the box, I was planning on shortening up my swing and just getting on base, but when she threw the pitch I knew I could hit I was confident enough to just swing away.”
Tharp finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
“Having a big hit and a good game to start the season really boosts my confidence going into the rest of the season,” Tharp said. “I feel like this will really help me stay up even through tough games.”
Strahan, Agostine, Thompson, Collins, and Tatum Christian each had hits for the Pirates.
Rupert earned the win after allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Ottman and Percassi both had three hits for West Geauga. Ottman recorded a double and a triple and also struck out six in 6 2/3 innings in the circle. She allowed just one earned run on eight hits.
