Ursuline blasts rival Mooney, 11-1

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

In his two decades as Ursuline’s head softball coach, Michael Kernan can’t remember ever having a team start with nine consecutive wins.

He has that memory now as the Irish handed arch-rival Cardinal Mooney its first loss, 11-1, on Tuesday at Youngstown State’s Covelli Sports Complex.

“I don’t recall playing this caliber of schedule and being 9-0,” Kernan said.

Sophomores Julia Nutter and Emily Holland powered the Irish offense. Their back-to-back homers in the second inning gave Holland a 2-0 lead when she returned to the mound in the third inning.

“It feels good,” Holland said of the winning streak. “We have a lot of confidence right now. We’re really working together, so it’s really nice.”

Mooney starter Maddie Filisky allowed only a hit by Alyssa Sheely in the first inning.

Nutter put the Irish ahead for keeps when she drilled a 2-2 pitch over the center-field fence to start the second at-bat for the Irish.

“Everything in your mind kind of disappears,” she said of hitting the ball so well. “Anything bad that has happened that day just vanishes for a second and it feels really good.

“You kind of like float for a second.”

Holland homered on a 1-2 pitch.

“As a team, we all feed off of each other,” Holland said, adding that pitching with an early lead and strong defense “gives me confidence.”

Holland (5-0) tossed a five-hitter, striking out four and walking one.

The Irish, who defeated the Cardinals for the first time since 2014, scored four times in the third inning for a 6-0 lead, taking advantage of two Cardinals errors.

“We showed nothing characteristic of Cardinal Mooney softball as far as the mental approach to the game,” Mooney head coach Mark Rinehart said.

The Cards committed five errors in the six-inning contest.

“It wasn’t like we didn’t care,” Rinehart said. “We didn’t play intelligent softball on the field, we didn’t have intelligent at-bats.

“Take nothing away from Ursuline — they are a good team,” he said. “But we are a good team, too, and we did not represent ourselves well at all.”

Nutter contributed a RBI single in the third inning and a two-run double off the fence in the sixth inning. She scored the game-ending run when Holland hit a sacrifice fly.

Destiny Goodnight had two hits and scored three times. Her streak of 13 consecutive hits was snapped in the first inning when she popped out to shortstop Conchetta Rinaldi.

Gia Caldrone’s two hits included a RBI double and she drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.

Cardinals junior Catie Perry homered to left-center field in the fourth inning. Alaina Francis, who relieved Filisky in the third inning, doubled in the sixth inning.

The Cardinals (7-1) and Irish could meet again on the same field in the Division II tournament, which will be at YSU after many years at Alliance High School. Mooney, Ursuline, Poland and West Branch most likely will get the top seeds.