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Bobbey leads Bulldogs past Spartans
Poland fights back to remain perfect
BOARDMAN
Brooke Bobbey’s two-out single in the seventh inning plated Abby Farber for the go-ahead run as Poland softball withstood a Boardman rally for an 8-7, come-from-behind win at Boardman High School.
Poland’s Jackie Grisdale snared Vanessa Rouch’s hard liner to end the game and preserve the Bulldog’s perfect start.
Poland (16-0) battled back from a 5-2 deficit.
Bobbey, who later scored in the three-run inning, finished with two hits and three runs scored.
“It’s good to play in these pressure situations right now because down the road they are going to come,” Bobbey said. “My team believes in me, so I had to believe in myself that last at-bat. This is the first game that we’ve played in this type of weather and it was a challenge to adjust.”
Poland beat the Spartans (10-7) twice this season, the first coming in a 15-5 victory earlier in April.
“They threw a different pitcher [Madison Lester] today and she’s a little quicker than we’ve seen recently,” Bobbey said. “It took a little bit to adjust to her but once we did it went our way.”
A groundout by Cam Lattanzio and single by Grisdale gave Poland an early 2-0 lead in the first.
Grisdale fell a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, lacing a single in the opening inning, a double in the fifth frame and triple to start their seventh inning rally.
A single by Alicia Saxton and wild pitch by Poland pitcher Ashley Wire allowed Boardman to tied the game a 2 in the home half.
The Spartans took a 5-2 lead in the second on two more wild pitches that scored Ashley Saxton and Roush, adding a third run in the inning on Lauren Maughan’s single.
Wire finished with three hits, roping a double and scoring a run with two RBIs.
“That extra run in the seventh inning, as it turned out, was really important,” Wire said. “I just got back to my mechanics because the ball was wet. In the seventh inning, all I was thinking about was getting the last three outs whether they are ground balls, fly balls or strike outs.”
Poland scored single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to knot the score at 5-5.
The Spartans took the lead in the sixth, 6-5, when Alicia Saxton’s single knocked in sister Ashley, who had led off the inning with a single.
The lead was short lived however, as Poland opened an 8-6 lead in the seventh.
“This was a very challenging game for us. Give Boardman credit because they hung in there,” Bulldogs head coach Jim Serich said. “Their pitcher [Lester] did a nice job, had nine strikeouts and made us earn everything that we got today.
Katherine O’Horo knocked in Maughan with two outs to cut the lead to 8-7. That’s as close as they could get.
Spartans head coach Fred Mootz lauded the play of his freshman pitcher, Lester.
“We start four freshmen and we’re looking to get over the hump, just trying to find that way to win,” Mootz said. “We’ve been in some close games that we’ve won, and we’ve also been on the other end. Poland is 16-0 for a reason.
“In the clutch they came through today. Madison is a freshman, I put a lot of weight on her shoulders every game and she just goes out there and delivers. She battled through the elements against a veteran club and we played them tight.”