The West Geauga Wolverines finished their 2023 softball season strong, winning their final six regular season games, including games in the last week against Kirtland (26-6), Berkshire (7-5), Perry (3-2) and Cardinal (10-0).
Game photos click here.
The West Geauga Wolverines finished their 2023 softball season strong, winning their final six regular season games, including games in the last week against Kirtland (26-6), Berkshire (7-5), Perry (3-2) and Cardinal (10-0).
The Wolverines also went 1-1 in OHSAA playoff games, defeating Geneva (4-0) and losing to Aurora (11-0) on May 12.
After the Aurora game, the Wolverines rebounded quickly to defeat a very difficult opponent, the Perry Pirates.
Earlier in the season, on March 30, the Pirates defeated the Wolverines, 5-4. In that contest, the y took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but the Pirates scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Wolverines.
Although the rematch against Perry on May 13 was similar, the contest ended differently.
Like the first Perry game, the Wolverines led going into the seventh. And also like the first game, Perry made the final inning interesting, with two back-to-back doubles to get within one run at 3-2.
But with nobody out and a runner on second, the Wolverines remained confident and resilient, and their defense rose to the occasion.
The next Perry batter hit a hard line drive to third baseman Cara Day’s left. Moving quickly to her left, Day snagged the line drive to get the first out.
The final two outs of the game were made by senior second baseman Julia Clark, who fielded two hard-hit grounders, then threw both runners out at first.
“Every time we play Perry, it seems to be a great game,” West Geauga Head Coach Marc Percassi said. “We knew it would be a tight game. The first time we played them, we had the lead. They rallied, scored and overcame it and beat us.
“(In this game), they had two nice hits early in that (last) inning. Haley did a phenomenal job competing and battling and beared down, and those last three outs were huge.”
The victory over Perry was especially special for Wolverines seniors, who had not defeated Perry as varsity athletes.
“We played very well and we definitely won as a team,” said senior captain Shea Malone. “We’ve never beat them since we’ve been in high school, so it’s just really exciting to finally get the win.”
After getting the victory against the Pirates, the Wolverines completed their season May 14 with a win against Cardinal.
Malone, Hannah Williams and Clark led the offense, while senior Haley Ottman was dominant on the mound.
Malone, a Bucknell college commit, was 3-4 with two triples and a double, and also had 4 RBI. Clark and Williams were both 2-4.
Ottman followed up her complete game victory against Perry with another complete game over Cardinal, giving up two hits, striking out seven, and not allowing one run.
Ottman had a great senior season on the mound, pitching 71 innings, striking out six, and compiling a 2.93 ERA.
Leading the way for the Wolverines at the plate for the season were Malone and Lely Percassi.
Malone finished her senior season with a .478 batting average and a .577 on base percentage.
Percassi, a freshman, also batted over .400. She hit .419 for the season and had a .444 on-base percentage.
With five of nine of the team’s top hitters being freshmen or sophomores, the future of Wolverines softball looks bright.
