PREP SOFTBALL Spartans gain 2-0 win over Mooney

Ashley DiDomenico pitched a one-hitter and struck out 10 batters.
BOARDMAN -- Quite often the outcome of what happens in a softball game is determined by a few inches.
Thursday at the Field of Dreams, a couple of inches proved very important in the outcome of the game between Cardinal Mooney and Boardman.
A batted ball off the bat of Boardman's Emily Hays landed on the chalk line in right field to drive in the first run of the game.
And a batted ball by Laura Guyer of Mooney hit a runner going from first to second base to not only end the game, but also is scored as the only hit for Mooney in the Spartans' 2-0 victory.
"We always have good games with Mooney," Boardman coach Bill Amero said. "They are backyard [rivals] and are always close [games]."
Season-high strikeouts
Boardman senior Ashley DiDomenico (8-5) struck out a season-high 10 batters with three walks in pitching the one-hitter. Two of the walks were back-to-back in the fourth inning, the only time that Mooney had a runner reach second base.
"Ashley did not have her best stuff today, but she had good movement on her fastball," Amero said. "We hope we are peaking as a team at the right time.
"We have lost four or five one-run games this year, which could have gone the other way, so hopefully we are over the hump," Amero said.
Mooney (14-6) coach Mark Reinhart had another opinion of the Boardman starter.
"We ran into an outstanding pitcher today," Reinhart said. "Colleen [Courtney] also pitched a great game for us. She had great control.
Scored in second and fifth
The Spartans (11-7) managed single runs in the second and fifth innings off the Mooney sophomore who allowed six singles and walked only one. Courtney is 7-4.
Boardman stranded a runner on third in the bottom of the first inning.
Danielle Burin started the rally with a single and was sacrificed to second by DiDomenico, the first of three Boardman sacrifice bunts.
After Burin moved to third on a popout, Holly Holman drove a shot up the alley in right-center field that Guyer ran down for the third out of the inning.
"We need to work on some of the small things going into the tournament," Amero said. "We have not been a very good bunting team so far, but I think we made some nice adjustments today. We are not banging the ball around as we would like to, so we have to try to manufacture some runs."
Walk sets up run
A one-out walk to Sarah Albani in the second set up the first Boardman run. Albani moved to second on a passed ball and scored when Hays hit a little fly down the right-field line that hit the chalk line for a run scoring single.
Nicole Williams opened the Spartans' fifth inning with a single up the middle. Katie Zetts bunted and was safe at first on an error, with Williams moving to third base.
Burin drove home the second Boardman run with her second hit of the game, a single through the hole between third base and shortstop.
DiDomenico retired the first 11 Mooney batters in order before the two walks in the fourth inning to Mara Palombaro and Gina Brunetti.
She then set down seven more in a row before walking Palombaro to start the seventh.
DiDomenico then struck out Brunetti for her 10th strikeout and retired Dana Palazzo on a foul out. Guyer then hit a 1-2 pitch to the right side which struck Palombaro.
Threw 108 pitches
DiDomenico threw 108 pitches in the contest and worked from behind to 17 of the 24 batters she faced.
"A couple of mechanical things slowed me down some today but I beared down and did what I had to do," DiDomenico said. "I can't be perfectly consistent every game but I work around it. This team has a lot of potential and I think we can make it pretty far in the tournament."
By playing Boardman, Reinhart said the Cardinals are gearing up for the Division III tournament.
"We backloaded our schedule in the last two weeks around the tournament, playing teams like Canfield, Howland, Boardman, Canton Catholic and Massillon to help get us ready for the tournament."