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Caldrone homers, singles in Ursuline softball victory
Caldrone’s homer,
single lift Ursuline
By Dan Hiner
Austintown
Gia Caldrone focused on relaxation. Trying to take one at-bat at a time and make the most of it.
Caldrone drove in three runs, including a two-run home run, in Ursuline’s 7-2 win over Austintown Fitch at 9-11 Memorial Park in Austintown.
The Irish (2-0) took a 6-1 lead with a four-run fifth inning. Caldrone drove in two on a bases-loaded bloop single to right field. Right fielder Maddy Taylor made a diving attempt, but the ball popped out of her glove as she hit the ground.
“I just said to myself before the game, ‘I need to relax, I need to do my thing. I need to take a step back, relax and swing like you know how,’” Caldrone said. “With how hard I’ve been working, the hard work is paying off.”
Julia Nutter followed with an RBI single and Emma Ericson drove in a run on an groundout to third base.
The Falcons cut the deficit to 2-1 in on a solo homer by Lainie Simons in the bottom of the first. But Fitch (2-1) couldn’t make a dent in the lead after the fifth inning.
Ursuline sophomore Emily Holland allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. Holland struck out 12 in a complete game.
“It feels good,” Holland said. “I have my team behind me. When I started to fall back, they were there to catch me.”
Holland allowed back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fourth, but struck out two and got a flyout to end the inning.
“That was a heck of an outing by Holland today,” Ursuline head coach Mike Kernan said. “I don’t think our pitchers have been tested to go the distance, especially the distance to go against a quality ballclub like Fitch. So to see her go through there and pitch extremely steady and go the distance on top of it this early on ... excellent outing. Very excited and proud for her.”
Ashley Fuller hit a two-out RBI double in the sixth inning, driving in Kayla Kelty for Fitch’s other run.
Fitch starter Lydia Spalding allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks. She struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.
“We had our opportunities,” Austintown Fitch head coach Steve Ward said. “One thing about us is — no excuses — we’re a bit inexperienced and young. [It’s] the first time a lot of these kids have been in these varsity situations. And they’re going to learn and grow from it. We’re going to learn and grow from it.”
The game featured two teams that reached the district semifinals last season. Fitch was eliminated by Canfield in Division I and Ursuline lost to Cardinal Mooney in Division II.
Ward and Kernan know the difficult schedules will eventually pay off.
“We knew Fitch was going to be a nice measuring stick,” Kernan said. “We got a beautiful day to play on. It kind of let us know where we stand when we going to face a quality pitcher, and what our team’s made of.”