The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Unbeaten Mayfield surges past South
Wildcats offense picks up pitcher, ends game with 11-hit performance
The Mayfield bats came alive in their game against South. The Wildcats collected 11 hits in their 13-3 win over the Rebels in six innings.
The Wildcats move to 5-0, while South falls to 1-4 after their Western Reserve Conference battle.
The scoring started early for Mayfield as Corey Razam had a two-run double to get the Wildcats up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
South answered quickly. After a walk and a single put two players on base, a wild pitch advanced the runners. A two-run double by Jeremiah Atwell brought the runners home, and then he stole home.
Mayfield pitcher Santino Fontana struggled in the second inning. But coach Darren Rapposelli said he told Fontana the offense would get them the lead, and he just needed to keep the game in control.
“When he came back to the dugout, I told him that we’re going to respond offensively,” said Rapposelli.
“Whenever an opponent puts up a number, we immediately get it back. I said were going to get the runs back and your going to keep it close.”
Fontana did just that, and only allowed two more hits his four innings. He also tacked on four strikeouts.
While Fontana was able to get it going after the second inning, the Mayfield bats were busy all day. The Wildcats finished with 11 hits.
Samuel Rapposeli and Joshua Cope hit two-RBI singles. Robbie Pattie had a three-run double to end the game. Riley Canitia’s three-run double in the bottom of the second inning gave the Wildcats back the lead, and they never looked back.
When asked about the hit that gave Mayfield the lead, Canitia didn’t know if it was going to drop.
“I was looking for my zone, and it was thrown low and inside of it,” said Canitia. “I hit it pretty
hard, but it looked like the right fielder was going to come down with it. I saw it just get over his head and I was glad we got the three RBIs off of that.”
When asked about the Wildcats’ discipline at the plate, Rapposelli said that his team did a good job not trying to make an errant play.
“We had a lot of walks today,” said Rapposelli. “I
told the guys to be patient and don’t chase balls out of the zone. Be complacent taking the walk and there are going to be plenty of other opportunities to get hits this season.”
South coach Brian Pellegrini said the Rebels’ approach at the plate was different as the game went on.
“Our at-bats changed,” said Pellegrini. “We were
aggressive in the first couple innings, but from there on out we just started taking a lot of pitches. We struck out with two runners in scoring position twice and we can’t let things like that happen when we’re in the game like we were today.”
These two teams won’t have to wait long to tangle again, as they will match up on April 9.