By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Thursday turned out to be a perfect day for Aurora’s McKennah Mezger.

The junior right-handed pitcher authored a perfect game in the Greenmen’s 10-0 victory over Copley, which entered Thursday’s league matchup with an 8-3 record.

It was a day when everything was working, which has been the case for most of the season for Metzger.

“The bats have been hot lately, as we’ve gathered 53 hits in the last three games … but the performance of the game was Metzger’s perfection,” Aurora head coach Sam Petrash said. “She moved the ball around proficiently and offset that with her change-up. All of her pitches were working.”

Metzger struck out 11 of the 18 batters she faced and totaled 75 pitches, with 52 landing for strikes.

The other seven outs recorded by Aurora were groundouts in a game where no ball reached Aurora’s outfield.

Metzger, who has committed to play for Kent State University, is now 12-3 on the season and has struck out 124 in 82.1 innings of work, with her earned-run average now sitting at 1.70.

“Not only is McKennah a strong player, but she is a strong teammate,” Petrash said. “She makes everyone around her stronger with the way she plays and the way she supports her teammates. She cheers for them just as hard as the plays.”

With Metzger, though, it is not just about pitching.

She is hitting .587 this season and she belted a home run — her eighth of the season — and single in Thursday’s victory. They were part of a 15-hit game for Aurora, which received multiple hits from Abby Dalessandro, Maggie McVicker, Lailah Bohanan and Metzger, while every other hitter in the team’s lineup had at least one hit.