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Spartans rally, then fall in 8th
By Tom Williams
BOARDMAN
With her team trailing by eight runs, Boardman sophomore Anna Saxton grounded out to open the bottom of the seventh inning. She was pretty sure her day at the plate was over.
Not quite, and she saved her best for last. The next eight Spartan batters reached base, turning the Federal League contest against Lake into a nail-biter.
With the bases loaded, Saxton stepped into the batter’s box for the second time in the frame against Blue Streaks reliever Emma McMarama. This time, she clubbed the ball over center fielder Rachel Williams for a three-run double that tied the game.
“It still blows my mind,” Saxton said. “It’s crazy.”
Lake’s Carol Mata singled home Carly Stauffer in the eighth inning for a 13-12 victory Thursday at Boardman High School.
The Spartans (2-5, 0-4) are hoping to build on special moments like their unusual rally.
“We’re really young, we start five or six sophomores and freshmen,” Boardman head coach Mike Trell said.
After Saxton’s groundout, Anna Patoray walked and Nicole Sanfilippo singled. Sydney Aey and Lindsay Soltis reached base on errors.
Addison Menosky, Melissa Maiorano, Kristen Huck and Miyah Mitchum connected for RBI singles, setting the stage for Saxton’s second at-bat of the inning.
At first, Saxton thought she might score the winning run.
“I was [feeling], ‘This is out of here,” Saxton said of the ball leaving her bat.
A brisk wind slowed the ball, keeping it inside the fence.
“It was close — what can you do?” said Saxton, who added that the team was hoping to convince their parents to celebrate at Asuka.
“I love my team for that [rally],” Saxton said. “It’s great.”
Much earlier, the Spartans left the bases loaded in the third and fifth innings.
“We should have never been in that position,” Trell said of the huge deficit. “We stranded too many runners. Sometimes, they make those young mistakes.”
In the fifth inning, Boardman trailed 3-2 when Saxton and Morgan Smith hit RBI singles for a 4-3 lead.
The Blue Streaks (2-3, 1-2) responded with five runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh.
Smith is a freshman while Mitchum, Menosky, Sydney Aey and Sydney Caraballo are sophomores.
“We’re building for down the road, for the tournament,” Trell said. “I keep telling them to just stay patient because the jump from JV to varsity is big.
“They are going to get better as the year progresses.”