The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Keystone keeps rolling
Wildcats beat St. Vincent-St. Mary for 11th win in a row
Keystone softball kept rolling on April 14, topping St. VincentSt. Mary at home, 7-0, for its 11th straight win.
“I thought overall, with the weather conditions and everything, we played very well,” Keystone coach Jim Piazza said.
“We got some timely hits, and we still wish we would’ve gotten some more runs because we left a lot on base. But those are growing experiences.”
Despite leaving eight runners stranded on base, Keystone scored in four of the six innings.
The Wildcats got on the board in the first inning when senior Brooke Piazza drove in junior Autumn Acord on a single to left field.
SVSM held Keystone scoreless in the second but surrendered two more runs in the third on an error at third base with the bases loaded and a walk to force in a run.
Keystone pitcher Sydney Campbell kept the Fighting Irish hitters at bay, not allowing a hit until the fourth.
Campbell pitched a complete game shutout while picking up her ninth win. She allowed four hits and walked one along with
striking out seven.
“Syd was throwing a lot of her pitches outside and was coming back in,” Piazza said. “She was placing the ball where it needed to be, but they were putting the ball in play, which is good because we want to have our defense get some work, too. Pretty much all of her pitches were working, but it’s pretty hard to grip the ball when it’s wet, but that’s not an excuse because I’m going to give them credit for staying in the box and looking strong.”
Keystone added a run in the fifth on a passed ball and in the sixth, the offense ignited for three runs.
“I think that just comes with them trying to make adjustments at the plate
and adapting to the pitching,” Piazza said. “I think we started adapting. Then they changed pitchers and then we adapted to the second pitcher and they changed again. I think that’s just a credit to our kids that the second time around they made adjustments they needed to make at the plate.”
Sophomore Marlie McNulty led off the sixth with a solo homer. Acord then picked up her second RBI of the game on a double to left field. Sophomore Angel Minisall made it a 7-0 ballgame with an RBI single.
This was the ninth game in which Keystone scored seven or more runs and the Wildcats have now outscored their opponents this season, 143-5.
“Overall, I’ve been very happy with the way we’ve been playing,” Piazza said. “Our defense has been solid and we just have to keep improving.”