The Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions improved to 1-0 with a 20-3 road win against the Geneva Eagles for an Opening Day victory.
The Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions improved to 1-0 with a 20-3 road win against the Geneva Eagles for an Opening Day victory.
The Lions jumped out to an 8-0 lead and closed its season-opener by scoring 12 unanswered runs in a 20-3 six-inning win at Geneva on Thursday, March 27.
“It’s been our vision (to win today),” said NDCL’s Lexi Simon following the win. “We’ve been looking forward to this game, and you never know with Northeast, Ohio weather when you’ll have that first game. We just had to stay prepared and come ready to play.”
The Lions got rolling in the third inning when Sadie Wurm scored the first run in the top of the third when Sienna Steinmetz reached on a three-base error, then Maya Rowan laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Steinmetz from third for the early 2-0 lead. Simon delivered with a two-out RBI single for a three-spot in the third.
NDCL nearly doubled that production in the top of the fourth, putting together a five-run rally behind a Lila Baeslach one-out double, and Steinmetz ripped a run-scoring triple to the outfield fence, followed by a Rowan RBI two-bagger for a 5-0 lead.
Rowan’s courtesy runner, Sabrina Velotta, scored on an error, and Lily Rader doubled home Becca Wooke before scoring herself on a passed ball for an 8-0 lead into the home half of the fourth frame.
Geneva put together a three-run rally itself in that frame to get back into the contest. NDCL’s Head Coach Tiger Alexander’s message to his team was simple.
“The game is a marathon, and we cut the game into smaller, manageable pieces,” Alexander said. “I just told them to refocus.”
His squad did just that with another three-run inning in the fifth, thanks to a flurry of Eagles’ errors, plating all three runs for an 11-3 edge after five.
The story continued in the sixth when the Lions put together a nine-run frame to seal the win in six innings via the run-rule.
Becca Wooke worked a leadoff walk and came around to score on a passed ball, followed by Rader, who reached on an error and scored on a Simon RBI double. Alex Mould drove home Simon, and Wurm added another run-scoring single for a 15-3 lead.
Rowan delivered a bases-loaded two-run single, and Bella Wooke picked up RBI base knock. Rowan scored on a wild pitch, and Rader capped off the win with an RBI two-bagger for a 20-3 lead.
The Lions are coming off a nine-win season and runner-up finish in the Crown Conference, and it has hopefully set the tone for the season in game one.
“It reinforces the journey that we talk about,” Alexander said. “What we have to do is look back at what we did well and figure out what we need to do better and then figure out how we do that. It’s a good start, and we’re pleased with it. We’re not looking too far ahead, but we want to be clicking. This is a good start.”
Two key components of the win were timely hitting, with eight of the 12 earned runs for NDCL coming with two outs, and starting pitcher Alex Mould’s ability to work through the Geneva lineup in a timely fashion to get the offense back to the dish.
“We pride ourselves on looking at a situation as an optimist and not a pessimist,” Alexander said. “Even with two strikes, we embrace that opportunity. As cold and as windy as it is out here, it’s a relief to see that kind of consistency that we displayed today.”
“I think it helps a lot knowing we have teammates that will pick us up no matter what we do at the plate,” Simon said of Mould. “Alex has shown us, season after season, that she has our backs and that we can help her too.”
Rowan paced the Lions with a 3-for-3 effort and 4 RBI, while Simon added in a 3-for-5 outing with two RBI, and Rader went 2-for-5 with two RBI as well.
Wurm, Steinmetz, and Mould all drove in one run, while Mould earned the win with six innings pitched, allowing seven hits with three total runs, two earned, and 10 strikeouts.
