The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
PERRY EARNS A SPLIT OF TWINBILL
Sophomore’s big hit is difference-maker for Pirates in first game
Some sophomores might get nervous coming to the plate with two outs late in the game with their team down by a run.
Perry’s Emma Pietrzak isn’t one of them.
With her team down to its last few outs — and facing a full count with two outs and the bases loaded — Pietrzak roped a tworun single over the shortstop’s head to give Perry a 4-3 lead over visiting Akron Hoban.
As if her game-winning hit weren’t enough, Pietrzak then back-handed a hard shot down the line in the top of the seventh to preserve the 4-3 win.
Hoban went on to beat Perry, 15-4, in Game 2 of the April 10 doubleheader. But the twinbill split gave confidence to the Pirates (5-2).
“This team (Hoban) really gives us the competition we need. If we go into regionals, what type of team we’d face,” said junior pitcher Faith Hartman, who got the pitching win the first game. “It’s a reality check. It’s good for the pitcher, and our offense and defense, too.”
Down, 3-2, in the seventh — which was the score since a wild first inning — the Pirates had two runners on when Hartman (the leadoff hitter in Perry’s order) was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Callie Thompson hit a hard grounder to third, which was relayed to home for the second out.
That brought Pietrzak to the plate with the game hanging in the balance.
Pietrzak fouled off five pitches, most of which were down and in, before working to a full count. She hit a looping single to right-center to plate the tying and go-ahead runs.
Hartman retired Hoban in order in the bottom of the seventh — two on grounders to Pietrzak at third — to end the game.
“That’s every batter’s dream,” said Pietrzak of a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh. “They were keeping it a little low on me. There was one ball that was pretty iffy (close to a strike). I looked for one that was knee high — in or out — and I got one.”
That the game came down to the seventh inning was somewhat of a surprise after how the first inning unfolded. When Caylie Quarles and Hannah McGraw both unloaded deep home runs to left-center, Hoban had a 3-0 lead.
Perry answered with a two-run double by Elle Infalvi in the bottom of the first to narrow the gap, but the key was Hartman finding her zone on the bump.
She did that, allowing only one hit and three total base-runners the rest of the game.
“My rise ball didn’t work. I was right down the middle,” said Hartman of the two moon shots she gave up early. “That’s a good hitting team. I adjusted with more attention to hitting my spots.”
Perry had opportunities. It left two runners on in both the third and fifth innings, but couldn’t get a big hit to gain momentum until the bottom of the sixth’s two-run rally that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
“We left a lot on base,” said coach Joe Medlen. “That came could have been a lot different if we get a little hit here or a little hit there.”
Medlen credited Hartman for “getting herself together and collecting her thoughts” after a tough first inning, as well as Pietrzak for her clutch hit.
Game 2 wasn’t as memorable for the host Pirates. Hoban (2-4) batted around in both the fifth and sixth innings, going 13-for-19 with three doubles and 10 singles in those two frames — to take a 15-4 win in six innings.
Pietrzak and Infalvi had RBI hits in the first inning to tie the score at 2-2.
The other highlight for Perry was Lily Agostine’s mammoth home run to left in the fifth that narrowed the margin to 8-4 before Hoban uncorked a seven-run sixth inning.
“I was nervous at first,” Agostine said. “I knew I had to drive in some runs to keep us back in the game. As soon as I saw the pitch, I sat back, relaxed and swung. It felt amazing.”
The Pirates have a busy week coming up with road games at Edgewood and South to start the week and games at home against Beachwood and West Geauga at the end of the week.