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Weir Outslugs Linsly Softball, 14-5

Mikula belts grand slam

Photo by Kim North Linsly’s Maddie Menendez takes the throw at second as Weir’s Taylor Webster slides into the bag during Wednesday’s game in Wheeling.

WHEELING — After being no-hit in its last outing, all it took Weir was a couple of early seeing-eye hits to get the Red Riders going.

The visitors (2-1) scored a trio of runs in each of the first three innings Wednesday night and Sophia Mikula’s fifth-inning grand slam capped a 14-5 verdict over homestanding Linsly (0-1) at Holloway Field. The game was halted due to the 8-run mercy rule after five innings.

“That kind of got us going,” Weir coach Frank Sisinni said of two first-inning singles that never left the infield. “From there things picked up. There was a little lull there in the fourth, but overall I was happy with our performance.”

Bella Aperfine drew a walk to start the game and Mikula looped a single between third and short. Left-handed hitting Taylor Webster cued a ball off the end of the bat over Linsly third baseman Karena Recrosio to load the bases. With one out, winning pitcher Sam Kaczmarek lifted a flyball to shallow left that was dropped as a run scored and everyone moved up 60 feet. With two outs, Madison Angus drilled a single up the middle that plated Mikula and Webster.

Maddie Menendez slammed a solo home run leading off the bottom of the first and the Cadets added an unearned run to make it 3-2.

However, the hits kept coming for the Red Riders as Aperfine doubled in a second-inning run; Webster knocked one in with a sacrifice fly; and Rosnick made it 6-2 with a run-scoring single.

Karena Recrosio’s two-run double in the bottom of the second cut the deficit to 6-4, but that would be as close as the hosts would get.

“We got some good pitching from Sam and our defense played well behind her,” Sisinni added.

Leading 9-4 heading to the top of the fifth, Weir loaded the bases on an error, double and walk to set the stage for Mikula. She sent a line drive to left-center that cleared the fence for a grand slam and a 14-4 lead. Liv Rosnick added a RBI double for a 14-4 reading.

“That was a huge grand slam by Sophia,” Sisinni said. “We put the ball in play, which is something we didn’t do the other night. We didn’t put it in play the other night to put stress on the defense. (Wednesday) was the opposite. Sometimes when you put it in play, it bounces in your direction.”

Linsly finished the scoring on a Grace Landini groundout.

“They just hit them where we weren’t,” Linsly coach Darryl Crews mentioned. “They hit some gaps and they hit some bloopers.”

Webster and No. 9 hitter, Alexis Adams, evenly divided six hits, with Adams recording a pair of doubles and a single.

“Alexis had a great game. That’s what you need out of your No. 9 hitter,” Sisinni said.

Linsly had 10 hits, but couldn’t bunch them together.

“Ten hits is respectable against that pitcher,” Crews said. “We just told the girls it’s our first game and we’ve got 28 or 29 more left to play. So we learn from our mistakes and celebrate what we did well. We’ll see them again Friday.”

Menendez and Karena Recrosio each had two hits for the Cadets.

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