The Lady Wolverines traveled to Monaca on Friday afternoon to square off in a doubleheader with a very talented Central Valley Warrior team. The team returned home with a well earned sweep by scores of 7-3 and 6-1. The team completed their season with an unblemished record of 12-0.  

Game One Recap

 The Lady Wolverines started off hot as they plated 3 runs in the first inning. Kyla Servick led off the game with a single and promptly stole second base. She scored the first run on a triple deep into left center field by Aliya Garroway. Garroway would score on a one out sacrifice fly to center field by Angie Nardone. The team scored the final run with two outs on back to back doubles by Grace Balin and Katelyn Wehman. Central Valley battled right back in the home half of the first by scoring 2 runs before an out was recorded. Winning pitcher Nardone buckled down and got out of a 1 out bases loaded jam with a strikeout and a ground out to second baseman Wehman.

After the Wolverines were held scoreless in the second, Central Valley tied things up in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff single and a one out rbi single. The Warriors would load the bases with 1 out only to see Nardone stiffen once again. The crafty right hander would get a swinging strikeout and line out to Wehman to end the inning and the threat.

The Lady Wolverines would essentially put the game away in the top of the third. Garroway led off the inning with double off of the fence in left field. She scored quickly as Nardone followed her with an rbi single. Grace Balin brought in Nardone with a triple into right center field and would score on a single by Wehman. After Wehman stole second, Jenna Vetica brought her around with a double into left center field that would conclude the scoring in the inning and the game.

After Nardone sat the Warriors down in 1-2-3 fashion to finish off the third inning, Garroway would come in to relieve and shut the door over the final two frames.

The offense was extremely impressive in game 1 as six players banged out 13 hits in just 5 innings. The young sluggers showed off their power as 6 of the 13 hits went for extra bases. Garroway led the charge with 3 hits including a double and triple. Servick, Nardone, Balin, Wehman, and Vetica all had two hits apiece.

Nardone went the first 3 innings to get the win. She gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while fanning 3. Garroway picked up the save as she worked the final 2 innings. She yielded one hit while striking out 2 and issuing 1 free pass.

The defense shook off an uncharacteristic second inning that saw them commit 2 errors and finished strong. Wehman handled three groundouts and a line drive while shortstop Servick threw out two runners via ground balls as well. Right fielder Vetica snagged two fly outs and pitcher Nardone was solid in the circle as she handled three ground ball outs.

Front row L-R; Liz Mihalko, Kali Barnett, Trinity Arlet, Maddie Hicks, Chloe Duncan, Grace Balin
Middle row Kyla Servick, Jenna Vetica, Aliya Garroway, Katelyn Wehman, Kaylani Leos
Back row Cassidy Crepp, Angie Nardone, Mollie Street, Jaidyn Leviere, Paige Wearing
The team was coached by Merel Macdonald, Jeff Barnett, Audrey Leos, Bill Nardone, and Bill Garroway

Game Two Recap

The second game started slower offensively for both teams as no one would score until The Lady Wolverines put up a 4 spot in the top of the third. Kali Barnett got the inning started with a line drive single into right field. The fleet footed third baseman would motor around to third as the ball got by the outfielder. Garroway plated Barnett with a double into left center for the game’s first run. Nardone brought Garroway in with another single and Grace Balin cleared the bases with a triple deep into right center field. Balin would also score on the play as the outfielder missed the cut off throw back into the infield.

Ellwood City would score the final two runs of the game in the 4th inning. Kaylani Leos led things off with an infield single down the third base line. She would advance to second on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Kyla Servick. Barnett drove in Leos with a single into right field and moved to second on the throw. She would then move to third on an infield single by Garroway and score on a single by Nardone.

The team hit the ball very well once again but the story of the game was Nardone and her mastery in the circle. The lanky 8th grader threw a complete game 4 hitter with tremendous control of her fastball, changeup, and drop. She faced just 18 hitters over 5 innings while striking out 7 without issuing a walk. It was an efficient outing that only took 65 pitches to complete. She threw a phenomenal 53 strikes and just 12 balls. Even more amazing was the fact that she threw 16 first pitch strikes to the 18 batters.

Garroway led the offense once again with 3 hits including a double. Barnett, Nardone, and Balin added two hits apiece as one of Balin’s was a triple. Jenna Vetica and Leos rounded out the 11 hit attack with one single apiece. Katelyn Wehman also reached base with a walk.

The defense returned to their solid ways as they committed just 1 error. Wehman was fantastic at second base as she snared a line drive, retired a batter on a groundout, and made a terrific over the shoulder catch to save a pop single into shallow right field in the first inning. Balin made the defensive play of the game as she tagged out the runner on first for a double play to end the second inning after catching a line shot. Barnett and Servick each retired batters via groundouts to third base and shortstop respectively. Nardone threw out a batter at first trying to reach on a sacrifice bunt and catcher Garroway gunned down the only runner that attempted to steal second.

This was a very special season that saw each young lady improve at both the games of softball and LIFE. These talented players will now move on to represent Ellwood City at the both the 12u and 15u levels as they will play in the Lawrence County Fast pitch Softball League this summer.