By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Ravenna senior Whitney Holmes nearly threw a perfect game in the Ravens’ season-opening 17-3 rout of Lake Center Christian on April 1 on the road.

Holmes retired the first 16 Tigers batters and went the distance.

“Whitney threw the ball well, she threw strikes,” head coach Luke Darrah said. “I don’t think she walked anybody the entire game, which is critical. We played decent defense behind nher. We eventually made a couple mistakes that cost us runs. Otherwise, Whitney probably would’ve had a shutout.”

Nine runs in the seventh inning put the exclamation point on the visitor’s complete domination. However, most of Ravenna’s runs were scored via bloop hits that fell in the right spots.

Defensively, the Ravens played well, according to Darrah, with the coach mentioning senior first baseman Shyanna Dillbeck, freshman second baseman Jocelynn Smallwood and junior catcher Mallory Sterba.

Two days later, on April 3 on the road again, Ravenna made it two in a row with a 6-2 victory over Woodridge. All six runs came in the fifth inning.

“Shyanna and Kasey Sterba (sophomore center fielder and Mallory’s sister) both hit the ball well,” said Darrah.

Holmes went the distance on the mound.

“Whitney pitched very well,” said Darrah. “I don’t think she walked anybody, and if you don’t walk people you have a shot at winning games.”

The next day, on April 4 in the home opener, the Ravens fell 13-1 to Hanoverton United Local to slip to 2-1 on the season.

“United Local is a really good team,” Darrah said. “We got beat by a better team.”

Freshman Savanna McNown started and went 4.1 innings, and Smallwood finished up.

“I thought our pitchers pitched pretty well,” said the coach. “The other team just hit the heck out of the ball.”

AURORA

Sophie Retton was expected to shine on the mound this season.

So far, so good for the Aurora senior.

Retton went the distance in striking out nine, walking only one and yielding just a single hit April 4 in the Greenmens’ 4-0 victory at Kent Roosevelt that upped their record to 6-1.

“Sophie does a pretty good job of reading hitters and exposing their weaknesses. I thought she did a very good job. She’s a very good pitcher,” head coach Sam Petrash said.

“We’ve had some good pitchers go through the program. It’s her turn now. There was no doubt that she’d come in and perform.”

Offensively, pacing Aurora’s 12-hit attack were senior first baseman Julia Miller and junior left fielder Lailah Bohanan, who both had three hits. Miller had a double, two singles and an RBI, while Bohanan rapped three singles and knocked in a run. Retton helped her own cause with two singles and two RBI. Also with a pair of singles was sophomore third baseman Lila Bultrowicz.

The day before, on April 3 at home, Aurora defeated Tallmadge 4-1. Retton went the distance, fanning two, walking one and yielding four hits.

“Sophie did a very good job of spotting the ball and changing speeds,” Petrash said. “She kept the ball off the barrel. That’s the kind of pitcher she is. Tallmadge has seasoned hitters.” At the plate, senior shortstop Rayna Unverferth homered, singled and scored a run.

Bohanan doubled twice, knocked in a run and scored a run.

MOGADORE

Mogadore senior pitcher Addie Christy led the Wildcats to complete-game victories — 11-1 April 3 at Crestwood and 11-0 April 7 at home over Lake Center Christian — as the Wildcats upped their record to 8-2.

Both games were shortened due to the 10-run rule — the Crestwood game to five innings and the Lake Center Christian game to four-and-a-half innings.

“Addie has been pitching really well lately,” head coach Jeff Fankhauser said. “She’s been doing it ever since she was a freshman. She gets it done and is able to come in and do what she needs to do. She’s been really good at hitting her spots this season. She gave up only two hits in the Lake Center Christian game. She did a great job. For the first three innings, she did really well. Then in the fourth and fifth innings she had to really buckle down. It started raining and sleeting. She just gets it done. She focuses and is really solid on the mound for us this season.”

Christy is also getting it done at the plate. She had multiple hits against the Red Devils, along with senior shortstop Lily Hotchkiss and freshman left fielder Autumn Betts. Christy, Hotchkiss and junior catcher Jayden Miller had multiple hits against the Tigers.

“We’ve been hitting very well,” said Fankhauser. “It’s been a great start to the season.”

WATERLOO

Freshman Jolean Hampton and sophomore Kristlyn Kehrer led the way for Waterloo on April 1 on the road in a 21-1 rout of Berlin Center Western Reserve. The game was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. On the mound Hampton started and went three innings, allowing no hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

“Jolean has been pitching pretty well to start the season,” head coach Brenda Flarida said. Kehrer went the remaining two innings and had two strikeouts and a walk. At the plate Hampton singled twice, tripled, knocked in three runs and scored four times. Kehrer had a single, two doubles, a triple, four RBI and a run.

“Jolean and Kristlyn both pitched very well and hit the ball well,” said Flarida.

Three days later, on April 4, the Vikings triumphed 6-2 at Campbell Memorial to improve to 4-1. Hampton went the distance in fanning 12 and walking just one.

“Jolean really just kept every hitter off balance,” the coach said. “For the most part, the opponent went down in order every inning.”

Hampton helped her own cause by doubling, singling and scoring twice. Kehrer had a single, a sacrifice fly and three RBI.

SOUTHEAST

Junior Liv Bragg had a lot to “brag” about with her complete-game performance on the mound in Southeast’s 4-2 win April 4 at Garrettsville Garfield. The Pirates improved to 3-1 on the season. Bragg threw only 62 pitches for the entire game. Eighty-one percent of her throws were strikes. She had two innings in which she threw just four pitches. She had no walks and only a single strikeout but induced 14 fly-ball outs.

“Liv just kept getting everyone to pop up. She was lights out,” head coach Erin Muncy said.

Offensively, sophomore shortstop Neena Truex led the way with a double, single and two RBI.

Three days earlier, on April 1, Southeast defeated the G-Men again on the road 12-7. The visitors’ bats were alive and well paced by junior third baseman Morgan Muncy’s two doubles, a home run and a single plus five RBI and four runs.

“I felt like Morgan was seeing the ball well,” Erin Muncy said. “She seemed really focused at the plate and knew what pitches she was looking for.”

Senior catcher Ava Stephens homered, doubled and singled, knocked in three runs and plated one herself. Truex had a double, two singles, an RBI and a run. Freshman second baseman

Lilly Hayes led off the game with a triple and also singled and scored three times.

“Neena hadn’t been doing so well at the plate but really caught fire that day. She had some big hits,” said the coach. “Lilly is just a little spark who gets things going. We like her in that leadoff spot.”

On the mound, sophomore Miranda Timko started and went 2.2 innings. Bragg went the remaining 4.1 innings.

“The third inning was an unfortunate inning where things just weren’t going our way,”

Muncy said. “There were a couple physical mistakes and mental mistakes.”

ROOTSTOWN

Junior Chloe Gardner pitched a complete-game gem for Rootstown April 7 at home in the Rovers’ 11-2 rout of Warren John F. Kennedy Catholic. The game was called after four innings due to inclement weather. The Rovers improved to 2-3. Gardner fanned seven and walked one in yielding just two hits.

“Chloe did great throwing strikes and attacking batters from the get-go,” head coach Paige Byers said.

Gardner helped her own cause with three hits. Junior center fielder Katie Sisley slammed a three-run home run. With two hits apiece were junior catcher Madison Giebel, sophomore left fielder Lilly Kamenash and third baseman Kaitlyn Hammerschmidt. Three days earlier, on April 4, Rootstown lost 7-3 at Springfield. Sisley started and went four innings, striking out six.

“Katie threw great,” said Byers. “She really did her job of putting the ball over the plate.”

Junior Mackenzie Bittner replaced Sisley and allowed three hits in the final two innings.

Hammerschmidt had two singles.

WINDHAM

It took six games, but Windham finally broke into the win column April 7 with a 20-1

rout at home over Warren Lordstown in a game called after 4.5 innings due to the 10-run rule. A big reason for the big win was that the Bombers committed only one error after numerous miscues in their previous three games.

“The story of our season is errors for sure. We’re a young team. Two of our top three pitchers have no earned runs at all,” head coach Tom Vankirk said. “But in this game we played cleanly on defense. The other team was putting the ball in play, but all the routine plays we hadn’t been making we made.”

Pitching-wise, senior Quinn Justham started and went three innings, yielding the Red Devils’ lone hit. Junior Libby Inman went the final two innings.

Pacing Windham at the plate were junior right fielder Skylar Bailey with a triple, single, five RBI and two runs and Justham with two singles, two RBI and three runs.

Four days earlier, on April 3, Windham fell 13-9 at home to Bristolville Bristol. Justham started and went 4.2 innings, giving up six hits while fanning four and walking three. Inman replaced her. An inning later, freshman Lillian Pesa-Garrett came in and pitched the last 1.1 innings.

At the plate, sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Blockinger tripled, singled and scored twice.

“Mackenzie has been hitting really well this year,” said Vankirk.

The next day, on April 4 also at home, the Bombers were swept in a doubleheader by Southington Chalker – 3-0 in the first game that was shortened to five innings due to inclement weather and 15-4 in the nightcap.

Justham went the distance in the first game, yielding just a single hit while fanning three and walking one. All three of Chalker’s runs were unearned. The home team was no-hit by the Wildcats’ Tatum Hudak.

In the second game, Inman started and went 3.2 innings with four strikeouts and four walks. Freshman Jaiden Moore replaced her, and Pesa-Garrett cleaned up.

Bailey singled and drove in two runs.