Beaumont rallies past Villa Angela-St. Joseph 10-9 in eight innings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAS | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| BEA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
Beaumont School needed every run, every baserunner and one final trip to the plate Thursday (April 9) night to beat Villa Angela-St. Joseph 10-9 in eight innings at Forest Hill Park.
The Blue Streaks won it on a Lyla Moratschek steal of home plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth. The freshman shortstop raced home after Beaumont had loaded the bases in a game that swung repeatedly from the middle innings on.
In the bottom of the eighth, Moratschek reached on an error, Kara Thomas followed with a single to left, and Maddie Wilson was intentionally walked to fill the bases. After Villa Angela-St. Joseph recorded a strikeout for the first out, Beaumont stayed aggressive on the bases. Moratschek broke for the plate and scored the winning run, ending a tense back-and-forth game with Beaumont's 10th run.
Beaumont set the tone early. Kara Thomas drove in the Blue Streaks' first run with a first inning single to right that brought home Moratschek for a 1-0 lead. In the second, courtesy runner Sarah Brunton scored on a steal of home after Maggie Fletcher was hit by a pitch and Kamarii Williams worked a walk, pushing the lead to 2-0. After Villa Angela-St. Joseph answered with three runs in the third, Beaumont trimmed the deficit immediately when Thomas singled and later scored on Maddie Wilson's line-drive single to left, tying the game at three.
The biggest Beaumont push came in the fourth and sixth innings. In the fourth, Caroline Spitznagel reached on an error, Sydney Forward singled her home, Fletcher followed with an RBI single that also moved her into scoring position on an outfield error, and Moratschek added a sacrifice fly to tie the game 6-6. After the Vikings surged back in the sixth to take an 8-6 lead, the Blue Streaks responded again. Fletcher reached on an error, Joelle Godina dropped down a sacrifice bunt, Moratschek and Thomas worked walks, and Wilson's infield single allowed both Fletcher and Moratschek to score and knot the game at eight. Moments later, Thomas stole home to give Beaumont a 9-8 lead.
Villa Angela-St. Joseph forced extra innings in the seventh, tying the game at nine, but Beaumont still made key defensive plays in pressure spots. In the top of the first, Kara Thomas and Maddie Wilson helped turn a double play to erase an early threat. Moratschek handled a lineout at shortstop in the fourth, and in the seventh Beaumont cut down a runner at the plate when catcher Maggie Fletcher threw to Thomas at third to catch a Viking wandering off of third. That out kept the game from getting away before the Vikings eventually tied it later in the inning.
Beaumont also got important work in the circle from Penelope Reiser and Dahlia Gildea. Reiser started and worked through the first five and a third innings before Gildea entered in the sixth and helped Beaumont escape a jam in extra innings. Reiser was charged with just four earned runs and recorded five punchouts, while Gildea struck out two, including the final out of the top of the eighth with runners aboard, giving the Blue Streaks a chance to win it in the bottom half.
The Blue Streaks return to action on Saturday (April 11) in a doubleheader against Laurel (11:00 a.m.) and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (1:00 p.m.) in games that will be played at Ursuline College.
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