Conotton Valley too much for Madonna in OVAC semifinal
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WHEELING -- Through three innings, the Madonna Blue Dons were battling with the top team in Ohio D-VII, trailing 3-0 to the Conotton Valley Rockets in their OVAC 1A semifinal game on Monday at the I-470 JB Chambers Sports Complex on Lisa's Field.
The fourth inning, though, was a game-changer.
"They're arguably not just the best team in 1A, they're arguably one of the best teams 1A through 5A," Madonna head coach Jason Backel said of the Rockets. "You know that because they beat the top in 5A, so they can beat anybody. We had one bad inning. We held them down 3-0 through three innings. We had two outs and then the wheels fall off."
Conotton Valley plated 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth to explode to a 14-0 lead, the final score of Monday's semifinal after five innings. With the win, the Rockets will advance to face Frontier on Friday at 5 p.m. on Lisas's Field.
The Rockets batted around in the fourth inning, drawing three walks in the inning and capitalizing on Madonna errors to keep the basepaths busy. Madonna had only let one run through while recording two outs, but the third out would prove hard to manage. Conotton's Maddi Kelley slashed a bases-loaded two-run double down the left field line, Mylie Galigher knocked two in with a single to right field, and Brooke Kelley singled through the infield to score another pair in a two-out rally that never seemed to end.
Madonna walked five and committed three errors in the game.
"We're not good enough to make mistakes against that team and get away with it," Backel said. "They have one of the best pitchers in the Ohio Valley. They played hard and we played hard, and we're going to start a new streak tomorrow. We've had a great season thus far, but we ran into a buzzsaw today."
Madi Owens and Ally Laughlin each smacked singles for Madonna while Geena Birkhimer struck a double.
OVAC Semifinals
Class 1A
(at Lisa's Field)
Conotton Valley 14, Madonna 0
Maddonn 000 00 - 0 2 3
Conotton 300 (11)x - 14 11 1
M- Conley lp (1K, 5BB) and Orecchio. Owens S; Laughlin S, SB.
CV- Williams (5K, 2BB), Kelley wp (4) (3K, 0BB) and D. Williams. A. Williams 2D, T, SB, 2rbi; M. Kelley D, T, 3rbi; B. Kelley 3S, SB, 2rbi; Rolli SB, S; Spano SB, rbi; Neilson S; D. Williams rbi; Galigher S, 2rbi.