Buckeye blanks Normandy 23-0 behind Young's shutout and 21-hit attack

Buckeye (18-5, 12-1) broke the game open immediately and never let Normandy recover in a 23-0 conference win Thursday at Nike Site Park, piling up 21 hits behind another dominant outing from Lilly Young. The decisive tone was set in the top of the first inning, when the Bucks scored six times, then backed it with a defensive gem an inning later to keep Normandy from gaining any traction.

Young worked all five innings and struck out 10 while allowing five hits, one walk and no runs. The shutout was her seventh in a row, and it extended her scoreless streak to 41 consecutive innings. Buckeye also played a clean game behind her, finishing without an error. One of the sharpest moments came in the bottom of the second, when Normandy's Kuhn tripled to lead off the inning. The Bucks answered with a pickoff at third base, as Eleanor Shaw threw to shortstop Sarah Michaels, who had slipped in behind Kuhn for the tag.

At the plate, Ava Piovarchy led the way with a 4-for-4 day, four runs scored and four RBIs. She doubled home two runs in the fourth inning and added a two-run single in the fifth. Michaels matched her with four hits, scored four runs and drove in three, while Shaw went 3 for 3 with two doubles and Kenzie Cenname finished 3 for 3. Buckeye's lineup kept pressure on throughout the afternoon, drawing six walks and stealing four bases.

The Bucks did most of their damage early. Michaels singled home a run in the first, Shaw followed with a two-run single, Juliana Melillo tripled in two more, and Cenname added an RBI single as Buckeye jumped out front. The second inning was even bigger, with Buckeye scoring seven runs on eight hits. Shaw doubled in a run, Cassie Minarchick brought one home on a groundout, Melillo tripled in two more, and Michaels delivered a three-run single.

Buckeye kept adding on in the third and fifth innings. A sacrifice fly by Kelsey Morano and another Cenname single helped extend the lead in the third. In the fifth, the Bucks scored five more runs, including a bases-loaded walk to Shaw, Shaw's second RBI double of the day, Piovarchy's two-run single and another run that scored on an error. Shaw, Melillo and Piovarchy each finished with four RBIs, and Shaw handled 11 chances in the field.

The win sends Buckeye into its next matchup at Saint Joseph Academy on Monday with its offense rolling and Young continuing one of the team's strongest pitching stretches of the season.