Calvert steamrolls Lakers; H-L holds off Streaks

CASTALIA – If you're a fan of offense, Friday's Division VII district softball doubleheader at Lions Park in Castalia was for you.In the first game – Calvert vs. Danbury – the Senecas started fast with a five-run first inning before erupting for an 11-run third. Calvert tallied 15 hits in an 18-5 victory.In the nightcap – Hopewell-Loudon vs. Fremont St. Joe – the Chieftains trailed 4-2 after an inning, but then plated 10 runs in the second inning. The Streaks chipped away, but the Chieftains held on in the end, 15-14.The two games had a combined 52 runs on 55 total hits as the Senecas (21-4) will now take on the rival Chieftains (18-9) for a district title back at Castalia at 1 p.m. today.The Senecas didn't mess around and jumped on the Lakers early and often with great plate appearances from 1-9 in the lineup."Those first three outs were big to set the tone in the game and then in the bottom of the first we wanted to set the tone as to what our strike zone is, compared to what the pitcher's strike zone is," Senecas coach Leah Bouillon said. "Addie Endicott started off the game with a leadoff walk. Then it was pass the bat, pass the out and that's what we did."We saw (Moriah Hatfield) two times now and we understood the main focus. But it all started with our defense and when we're making those big outs, it makes hitting so much easier, it becomes a lot of fun." Calvert led 7-2 after two frames before the gigantic 11-run third inning as Ava Eilrich drove in two runs with a single, Gracie Miller doubled and drove in two, Claire Schoenberger belted her second career home run and Scarlett Faber lined a bases-clearing triple to right field. Those were just some of the highlights of a tremendous inning, which demoralized the Lakers."Calvert is very good. We were fortunate to have been able to play them so close in the regular season and then good teams do what they did today," Danbury coach Jim Fish said. "They really strung things together, took advantage of a weakness, of errors … they smelled blood and went for the kill, which is what they did today."Calvert went with the freshman Eilrich in the circle starting out and then switched to senior Addison King to close it out. The two have pitched almost the same amount of innings this season, becoming interchangeable for Bouillon.Eilrich picked up the win, allowing three runs on three hits with four strikeouts.The defense was superb, the fundamentals were as well, but smashing 15 hits also was impressive. King (2 RBI) led Calvert with three hits, while Alyssa Rishty, Eilrich (4 RBI), Miller (3 RBI) and Schoenberger (RBI) all had two hits. Sofia Lee singled and drove in two runs and Addison Sheets finished with a single and an RBI."It's what you want. You don't want all of your offense coming from one sector of your lineup," Bouillon said about her team's offensive production Friday. "It's good to see the chemistry of this team and how excited they get for each other."In the nightcap, Fremont St. Joe (8-14) took it to H-L early with four runs in the top of the first. But the Chieftains didn't panic. Brynn Sendelbach roped an RBI double to right and then AnneMarie Berg hit a RBI single in the bottom of the first. After a scoreless second for the Streaks, H-L exploded with the 10-run bottom half. Sendelbach drove in another run with a single, Araceli Velasquez drove in two with a single to center, Alekzandrea Jameson drove in a run with a single to right, Avery Landers drove in a run with a double and Sidney Brickner tripled to right to drive in a run."We hit the ball pretty well tonight, but it's slight deja vu for me tonight because we put up 10 and then the next inning we go down 1-2-3 and don't get any more runs or something … been that way all season seems like," H-L coach Tony Malagon said. "I'm just trying to find a little more fight in these guys and a little more killer instinct. "I give high praise though for their pitcher Stella (Thomas), she's a really good pitcher. She had like eight strikeouts the last time we played them and their team really fought tonight. So I'm just glad to get the win and to be moving on."St. Joe just chipped away at H-L's lead, getting within 15-13 after six innings. It tallied a run in the top of the seventh, but a groundout to shortstop Araceli Velasquez ended it as St. Joe left a runner at second base.Velasquez, who was the winning pitcher, smacked three singles and drove in two runs for H-L, while Landers (RBI), Brickner (RBI) and Sendelbach (3 RBI) all had two hits. Morgan Hoover drove in three runs and Madison Holcomb drove in two.Calvert topped H-L 9-3 and then 6-2 this season."We were hoping to take it one game at a time and get a third chance at a team because we know it's hard to beat a team three times, so we're just happy for the opportunity and we're gonna give it our all tomorrow," Malagon said. Bouillon added: We're going to have about half of a day to prepare, but the girls are ready and excited for this. They are excited to play softball."