Coming off a 10-6 record last season, the West Geauga Wolverines may have had some doubts coming into this year. But this young team with only two seniors gives Coach Mark Percassi a lot to smile about heading into the 2024 spring season.
Coming off a 10-6 record last season, the West Geauga Wolverines may have had some doubts coming into this year. But this young team with only two seniors gives Coach Mark Percassi a lot to smile about heading into the 2024 spring season.
“This is a new part of the CVC for me to be part of this year,” Percassi said after his girls recently won their first home game of the season in convincing style against an overmatched Orange team. The 18-2 score told an accurate story of what lies ahead.
Led by seniors Hannah Williams and Elena Rodriguez, the Wolverines should be able to get things done for the next couple seasons as well. Juniors Cara Day, Shaylynn Rogaski and Malory Lear are starters, with Michaela Platt also often starting at catcher.
Maddie Oster and Georgia Rust complete the team’s junior class membership, but girls younger than them also play a huge role.
Sophomores Lely Percassi and Morgan Atwara start, with Jenna Aquilla and Anna Byrum providing bench support.
Freshmen Dayana Malone and Ava Borz also start, occupying two of the top three spots in the batting order, indicating the high esteem with which they’re regarded. Allie Arrigo and Sydney Gallagher round out the roster for Coach Percassi.
“I’m not very familiar with our end of the CVC this year,” he said. “That said, we have a load of young girls who play the game right, have played a lot of summer ball, and are very enthusiastic about supporting each other all the time. As long as we can compete each time out, I will be very happy because we have the skills to win some games.”
The Wolverines opened the season with a trip to Myrtle Beach to tangle with some big-time talent. They went 1-3 in that span, but learned a lot.
Against Orange, the pitching was the huge difference they saw. In Myrtle Beach, pitching was top quality.
Orange didn’t present the same thing, and for a while, the Wolverines didn’t adjust well.
“The pitchers today for Orange were not nearly as fast as what we saw at Myrtle Beach,” said Williams, a senior first baseman. “Not a lot of pitchers around here are as fast as what we saw down there. Today we had moments when we didn’t adjust well, but once we did settle in, we just had to be ourselves and be ready to hit. If we play our game, we’ll be fine.”
Added Rogaski: “Playing in Myrtle Beach was a great practice for us to get ready for our own season here. It gave us a good time to learn more about each other as a team (and) it gave us a chance to be part of a great community effort to get things ready here for us to play, so the field looks great and it’s time to get started.”
Sophomore Lely Percassi, along with Rogaski, will carry the load pitching for the Wolverines. After a bumpy start against Orange, when the first two hitters reached base and scored, she settled in superbly on the mound, not allowing another hit while fanning 13 in the five-inning success.
“Once the game got going, the ball didn’t seem as slick for me,” she said.
In warming up with the first game ball, control problems seemed possible, but Lely Percassi got the ship righted in a huge hurry and dominated the rest of the way.
“I just wanted to do good today once we got started,” she said. “Conditions were good for me, there were a couple of wet spots in the outfield, but otherwise things went really well. My control was good, and that’s huge for us to win.”
Defense was superb as well. With Malone at second base, Borz at shortstop, Williams at first and Day at third, field coverage was solid. Other than a blast to center by the second hitter of the game for the Lions, which went over the head of Rogaski for a double, Lely Percassi’s speed advantage kept everything in play in good stead for the Wolverines.
They improved their record to 2-4 overall, 2-0 in the CVC.
Everybody had a hand in the victory. Malone whacked the ball hard on the first at-bat she saw, a liner to second base. She also sent a shot deep to center her third time up, after being one of five Wolverines to get plunked early on. Her last time up provided poetic justice, as a blooper to right-center fell in for a hit, driving in a run.
Day reached all four times in scoring four runs. Borz was plunked twice with a walk thrown in, scoring three times. Rogaski had three hits while driving in a trio, and will provide left handed pitching during the season, with Percassi doing the same from the right side.
In fact every Wolverine reached base at least once. Lear was efficiency personified with a pair of hits that gave her five RBIs in the game, Williams had a pair of hits to go with a hit batsman and walk.
Scoring in every inning is tough, but West G got the offense going right away. It should be a very fun season.
