Wickliffe vs. West Geauga softball: Blue Devils start strong again, fend off Wolverines

Give credit to the Wickliffe softball team for heeding the words of Coach Marlena Mucciarone.

But maybe the Blue Devils are taking their coach a little too literally.

Wickliffe scored four runs in the top of the first inning on April 27 as part of the Blue Devils’ 5-2 win over host West Geauga.

It’s the second game in a row Wickliffe has put four runs on the board in the first inning, only to fizzle out offensively throughout the rest of the game.

Perry rallied to beat Wickliffe, 8-7, on April 26.

Mucciarone said she’ll gladly take the win over West Geauga, which keeps the Blue Devils (8-5, 7-1 CVC Chagrin) a half-game behind Perry in the league standings, but admitted she wouldn’t mind a more consistent offense.

“I tell them we’ve got to jump on teams in the first inning,” Mucciarone said. “We do that, but I think they are taking it literally and think they don’t have to do anything the rest of the game. We can’t let teams inch their way back into the game like Perry did last night and like West Geauga almost did tonight.”

In the loss to Perry, Wickliffe scored four runs in the first inning and three over the final six frames.

In the win over West Geauga, the Blue Devils scored only one run after a four-run first.

In all, that’s 8 runs in the first inning over the past two days and four runs over the ensuing 12 innings.

“We knew yesterday how we hit and we’d have to bring that today to bounce back,” said Wickliffe pitcher Emily Lesco of the mindset coming into the West Geauga game.

Four of the first five batters in the lineup reached base and scored, with Caitlin Henderson ripping a two-run double and Brenna Hillyard slicing an RBI single to right.

“Yesterday (against Perry) I had trouble hitting,” Henderson said. “It felt good to come back as a hitter and get the runners in.”

The early lead also helped Lesco (5-4 pitching this year) settle in.

“Oh my gosh, yes,” she said. “When we start off with a lead, it’s great. It’s not like I can let down, but it takes the weight off my shoulders.”

After being run-ruled by Wickliffe in the teams’ first meeting this year, West Geauga persisted. Mia Minello singled in Samantha Ange in the first inning to cut the gap to 4-1.

But throughout the game, key hits evaded the Wolverines, whose only other run came in the fifth on a throwing error.

“We just didn’t barrel the ball on the bat enough,” Coach Robert Leppla said. “Lesco is a great player and that’s a great team. We hit her, but didn’t get enough of the bat on the ball today.”

Wickliffe didn’t really, either, after the first inning. The only other run came in the top of the fifth when Olivia Wills singled, moved up on a double by Gianna Ranallo and scored on a throwing error.

A sweeping cold front nearly halted play in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Lesco was able to strike out the final two batters before a sheeting rain chased players and fans from the field.

“We were 2-17 three years ago,” Leppla said. “The girls know how to bounce back. We had some early jitters, but these girls responded.”

With the win in the books and still a half-game back of Perry, the Blue Devils turned their attention to a rare Sunday game, when the Pirates and Blue Devils meet for the second time on April 29.

Prior to that, Wickliffe hosts LaBrae and Kirtland in a triangular on April 28.