5-Run 6th Catapults Field to MAC Victory Over Norton

Brimfield, OH- The Field Falcons softball team welcomed Metro Athletic Conference foe Norton to town Tuesday evening. After a blustery day on Monday, the teams were welcomed with much more seasonable weather on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately for both offenses, the bats didn’t follow suit for much of the afternoon.

Field’s Adrianna Berry and Norton’s Tatum Harris went toe-to-toe in the circle. For Berry, it was a few highwire acts, including escaping a bases-loaded, 0 out situation in the games 1st inning. As for Harris, it was a defensive miscue that opened the scoring for the hosts.

Following a leadoff walk for Addy Lay, Lilli Sutkowy singled to right field. Trailing by 1 and with two on and no one out, Gracie Hoskin laid down a sacrifice bunt. The throw to first to get Hoskin ended up trickling into right field, allowing Lay to scamper home and Sutkowy to advance to third base. Averi Weis followed with a sacrifice fly to left to bring Sutkowy home, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead after 3.

The Panthers used some opportunistic offense of their own in the top of the 4th as they brought the game back to even at 2. That is what the scoreboard would stay at through 5 and a half innings of play. The Falcons again used small ball to get their rally going in the home half of the 6th.

Ryann Huddleston got the inning started with a single up the middle. Again, the Falcons laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. This time, it was Lay who put down the bunt out in front of the plate, and unfortunately for the Panthers, it was another throwing error on the bunt that led to a score as Huddleston hustled all the way around from first to break the tie. Following a groundout that advanced Lay to third and a lineout off the bat of Hoskin, it was Weis again coming up with a big at-bat, this time belting a single to center field, bringing Lay in for an insurance run. Bri Homan followed with a shot to left field for a double that put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.

Right fielder Sophia Roberts stepped in and slapped a liner to left center field for a double of her own, plating both Weis and Homan to make the score 6-2. Juliana Baker followed with a single up the middle to bring Roberts home to cap off the scoring on the evening.

The victory moves the Falcons to 9-2 on the year, while the loss drops the Panthers to 7-5.