Tallmadge’s Big First Inning Sends Bay Softball to 13-2 OHSAA Sectional Tournament Loss
TALLMADGE, Ohio - Bay Softball fell behind early Thursday and could not recover, as Tallmadge scored seven runs in the first inning on the way to a 13-2 win over the Rockets at Tallmadge High School.
The decisive stretch came immediately. Tallmadge broke the game open in the bottom of the first when Sophia Paonessa doubled home three runs, Allison Tyler added a sacrifice fly and Taryn Roberts followed with an inside-the-park home run that brought in three more for a 7-0 lead. Tallmadge added another run in the second, then put the game further out of reach with five runs in the fourth.
Bay still found some offense against Roberts, who earned the win after allowing six hits and two runs over five innings while striking out nine and walking none. Julia Mavis and Lucy Corbett each had two hits for the Rockets, accounting for four of the team’s six hits. Maeve McFarland and Corbett each drove in a run for Bay.
Corbett also started in the circle for Bay and worked four innings. She struck out five while allowing 13 runs, six of them earned, on nine hits and six walks. Despite the final margin, the Rockets had multiple hitters produce quality contact and continued to compete at the plate against a pitcher who also delivered an immaculate inning in the third, striking out the side on nine pitches.
Tallmadge’s lineup stayed productive throughout the afternoon. Jada Kendrick singled to center on the sixth pitch of her at-bat to score the Blue Devils’ lone run in the second. In the fourth, Sophia Fasick tripled in a run, Caitlyn Eland doubled home another, Camryn Ickes added a two-run double and Natalia Case singled in a run. Roberts, batting from the No. 9 spot, finished with three RBIs.
Tallmadge also backed its pitching with a clean defensive game, finishing without an error and turning a double play. Tyler handled a team-high six chances in the field. The Rockets played under mainly clear skies with temperatures in the upper 60s, and Bay will look to build on the production from Mavis, Corbett and McFarland the next time it takes the field.
