A Susie Rhodes walk off triple in the bottom of the 10th inning pushed Ireton over the top in its 7-6 extra innings win against cross town rival St. Stephens/St. Agnes on Tuesday afternoon. Senior Micki Crouch pitched her best game of the season and the entire Cardinal defense played superbly as the team extended their winning streak to 4 games.
Aggressive base running put the Cardinals on top 3-0 in the first inning. Katie Kiesner, after being hit by a pitch worked her way to third on consecutive steals. Heather Pearson drew a walk and Senior Debbie Ward delivered a hard hit triple to drive them home. Susie Rhodes then reached on an error plating Ward to give Ireton the early lead.
Good defense and solid pitching kept the score locked at 3-0 until the 5th when SSSA took the lead on a double and a 3 run home run by University of Pennsylvania recruit Alexis Sargent. Ireton tied the score in the 6th as Debbie Ward collected her second of three hits on the day and was driven home when Emily Quinn’s long fly ball to left field was dropped.
In the 7th inning, SSSA again scored two runs on a single and a pair of doubles to take a 6-4 lead. Down to their last at bats, Ireton rallied again to overcome the deficit. Consecutive singles by Micki Crouch, Katie Kiesner, Heather Pearson and Debbie Ward tied the game at 6. With the score tied, the Cardinals pressured the SSSA defense by sending the winning run home only to be gunned down at the plate by a superb defensive play.
Again, excellent defense and pitching kept the teams locked at 6 until the bottom of the 10th inning. Debbie Ward worked her count into a walk and took second on a passed ball. With two strikes, sophomore Susie Rhodes hammered a line drive to left center field allowing Ward to sprint home with the
game winning run.
“The kids showed a lot of character and did not quit after falling behind twice,” commented head coach Terri Pearson. “It took the whole team to earn our biggest win of the season.”
The Cardinals go right back to work on Wednesday when they travel to take on WCAC opponent Elizabeth Seton.
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