by Dean Raymond
Correspondent
Stow -- Visiting Hudson erased an early 2-0 deficit and defeated host Stow-Munroe Falls, 4-3 April 21 in the opening Northeast Ohio Conference River Division game for both teams.
The "star" of the game for the Explorers was sophomore left-hander Mindy Meredith (3-2) as she took over for starting right-hander, sophomore Jenny Reitz, in the first inning and pitched seven strong innings.
"Jenny (Reitz) struggled today and she just didn't have it," Lady Explorer head coach Frank Caraballo said. "We were able to go to Mindy and she shut the door. My kids are starting to understand things. This is not the same team from last year when they won the state championship. We need to get a lot better, though."
Meanwhile, Bulldog head coach Doug Hawkins was looking ahead to April 23 for the rematch at Hudson.
"They made the plays and we didn't," Hawkins said. "We play them Wednesday and we will go at it again."
The Lady Bulldogs (9-4) scored twice in the bottom of the first frame before anyone was out as freshman third baseman Julie Rooney led-off with a single to right-center field off of Reitz.
Senior center fielder Taylor Weddle came up next and beat out an infield single as Rooney went to second base. A single to left field by junior shortstop Sammi Guinn loaded the bases before senior second baseman Allison Scherer singled to left field, scoring Rooney and Weddle for a 2-0 Stow advantage.
With one out, Meredith relieved Reitz and fanned the next two batters to get out of further trouble.
Hudson (5-3) answered with three runs in the top of the second inning off of Lady Bulldog senior right-hander Lauren Hurd (7-1).
Meredith led-off with a single to left-center field as senior Erin Monsman ran for her. Junior third baseman Lindsey Bartos came up next and doubled to left-center field as Monsman raced to third base. A walk to Reitz loaded the bases with no outs before senior first baseman Katey McCandless lofted a sacrifice fly to right field as Monsman scored to pull the visitors within a run at 2-1.
A bunt single from sophomore left fielder Emily Maggio loaded the bases again before an error scored Bartos as the game was tied at two. Sophomore second baseman Callie Drohan then grounded out as Reitz scored for a 3-2 Lady Explorer lead.
Hurd looked to be in further trouble in the third when sophomore catcher Georgia Stokes singled to left field to lead-off the inning as senior Jamie Markwell ran for her.
Meredith then walked before Hurd showed why she's one of the best pitchers in the area as she recorded a groundout, a strikeout and a fly-out to get out of the jam.
Hudson left a runner at second base with two outs in the top of the fifth inning before Stow scored in the bottom of the frame to knot the contest at three.
With one out, sophomore first baseman Chelsea Carlson singled to right field as sophomore Morgan Springford ran for her. A groundout moved Springford to second base and she scored on an RBI single to right-center field off the bat of Weddle.
The Lady Explorers then scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the sixth. With one out, Maggio bunted for a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. A groundout moved Maggio to third base where she scored on an infield bloop single off the bat of Drohan. To Hurd's credit, the base hit could also have been ruled a tough error.
Meredith allowed a one-out single to center field by senior left fielder Nikki Goodwin in the bottom of the sixth before striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh to end the game which took almost two hours to complete.
Hudson left a runner on second base (a walk to Meredith) with two outs in the top of the seventh as Monsman again ran for the pitcher and advanced to second base on a groundout before Hurd induced a fly-out to end the inning
The Lady Explorers ended up stranding nine runners in the game while Stow left three on the bases.
Meredith allowed just three hits (the Lady Bulldogs had seven in the game) while fanning 10 with no walks. Meanwhile, Hurd tossed a complete-game eight-hitter with two strikeouts and five walks.
Meredith (2-for-2) and Maggio (2-for-2) had two hits apiece for Hudson while Weddle was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Stow.
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