Detroit – Every punch seemed to have an equal counter punch Tuesday at the C-D Catholic League championship game at the home field of University of Detroit Mercy.
At least until the 10th inning, when Our Lady of the Lakes dealt a knockout blow to Cardinal Mooney to capture a come-from-behind win.
After spending every last spare out, the Lakers tied the game at 5 with two gone in the bottom of the seventh, when junior catcher Jules Mastromatteo went home on an errant pitch.
Three frames later, after gritty performances by two senior pitchers – Breagh Beaton of Cardinal Mooney and Michelle Cottrell of Our Lady of the Lakes – senior outfielder Abigail Troy lined a single into center field, scoring sophomore outfielder Abbigayle Kline from third.
“It was definitely exciting,” said Troy of getting the game-winning base hit, “especially to have Abbie Kline on third base. Dual Abbies helped to win it.”
Lakers of every other name were just as reliant when the chips were down, said coach Steve Troy.
“These seniors – they just don’t want to lose,” he said. “They come together at the most critical time, and you saw it in the 10th inning.”
On Cardinal Mooney’s side, Beaton said the loss was tough, but there was nothing left to do but look forward to the state playoffs, and possibly meeting Our Lady of the Lakes again there.
“We did really well today,” said Beaton, who helped her cause on the mound with a two-RBI single and a triple in the middle of the game. “We didn’t really make a lot of mistakes.”
The difference, she said, were some well-timed hits.
Still, she said the Cardinal Mooney team had come a long way during the season – pointing out a huge amount of progress by the outfield.
“The beginning of the season we didn’t really mesh as a team,” she said. “We didn’t have as good of chemistry as last year, but I think as the season’s been going on, we’ve been doing a lot better.”
After Cardinal Mooney earned a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Monday before a torrential downpour suspended the rest of the game until Tuesday, Our Lady of the Lakes tied up the score on a Lauren Robak RBI in the bottom of the first.
Our Lady of the Lakes gained a brief lead in the bottom of the third when junior Jules Mastromatteo hit a single with the bases loaded to score Troy from third base.
Beaton’s one-out triple in the top of the fourth turned into a run thanks to a single from senior shortstop Jamie Sharpe, tying the game at 2.
Cottrell likely felt like she had a target on her in the top of the fifth, as Cardinal Mooney batters hit three singles straight back at the pitcher, setting up a bases-loaded single by Beaton to score two and take a 4-2 lead.
A sacrifice ground-out in the bottom of the fifth by freshman third-bagger Angela Mastromatteo scored Robak from third to bring the Lakers within one.
But the Cardinals bought a little more breathing room when Sharpe doubled, and scored on two sacrifices in the top of the sixth inning.
After going without a run in the bottom of the sixth, Cottrell pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top half of the seventh, setting up the Laker’s 11th hour tie.
Three more shutout innings for Cottrell set up Troy’s heroics in the 10th.
“They were a really good opponent,” said Cottrell about Cardinal Mooney. “But I’m glad I had my defense with me, behind me. I love every one of them, and I trust them all to get it.”
Asked whether there was a turning point in the game, Cottrell said an exuberant bench in the later innings gave her confidence that the Lakers would pull out the victory.
“When the bench really, really got loud, I had a feeling that we were going to win it, for sure,” she said.
Cardinal Mooney had been the reigning C-D softball champs after having won the 2010 tournament. Our Lady of the Lakes won the C-D title in 2009.
