JEFFERSON — It only seemed fitting that Edgewood pitcher Luci Paolillo would face Jefferson batter Kennidie Rogers with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning.Paolillo, a two-time Ashtabula County Player of the Year, induced Rogers, a Robert University recruit, to ground out and give the Warriors a hard-fought 7-5 Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division win.“I knew that our defense was capable of making an excellent play to end the game,” Paolillo said. “The strength of our defense gives me a lot of flexibility as a pitcher, and allows us to consistently hold teams to just a few runs.”Edgewood improved to 11-1 overall, 6-0 in the conference, while the Falcons dropped to 5-2.Jefferson fell to West Geauga 13-5 Friday, dropping to 7-6 overall.“We stayed together and kept our composure,” Warriors third baseman Carly Tracy said.Edgewood captured its 10th straight victory.“Total team effort,” coach Randy Vencill said.
“Happy with the way the girls responded and played. They battled until the end, and we did well in all the facets of the game.“I thought we hit the ball well, pitched great and made a lot of good plays to sneak out with a solid win.”Despite the loss, Jefferson coach Emily Hagerdon was proud of her team.“We did a great job overall,” she said. “We didn’t let one thing snowball.”After the Falcons tied the game with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Warriors responded with two in the top of the seventh.Pinch runners Whitney Reed and Emma Toth tallied the sixth and seventh runs, respectively.The Falcons broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the third.
Alyvia Graham touched home on a Rogers single.In the top of the fourth, Edgewood’s Faith Vencill put a ball over the left-centerfield fence for a home run to tie the game 1-1. It was her second homer of the season.Addison Lamson and Carly Kray followed with hits, and Lamson eventually scored on a wild pitch.In the bottom of the fifth, Rogers struck again. She whacked a two-run triple to right-center.
Rogers scored to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead.Once again, though, Edgewood rallied with three runs in the top of the sixth inning.A sacrifice fly and fielder’s choice tied the game at 4-4, then Natalie Ianetta’s single brought in the fifth run.Jefferson tied the game with a run in the home half of the sixth.After the Warriors tallied the two runs in the top of the seventh, Paolillo faced Rogers again, and recorded the final out.“It was a battle of the titans with Kennidie and Luci [Thursday],” coach Vencill said. “It was great to see Luci dig deep and fortunately for us to make the play and get that last out.
Definitely a confidence builder.”Sydney Miller and Faith Vencill led Edgewood with three hits each, while Lamson, Tracy and Kray added two apiece.“We had a lot of good approaches at the plate,” coach Vencill said.Rogers notched two hits with three RBIs.“We look for her a lot,” Hagerdon said of the senior.Paolillo pitched all seven innings. She allowed seven hits and three earned runs with eight strikeouts.Likewise, Olivia Lewis went all seven innings for the Falcons.She gave up seven hits, one earned run and two walks with two strikeouts.The rematch is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 7 at Edgewood High School.In the meantime, both teams will continue to improve.“At this point in the season, you are pretty much playing every day with weather and makeups,” coach Vencill said.”If we do get a chance to practice, we will continue to work on our fundamentals.”The Falcons, meanwhile, will look to maintain consistency.Jefferson recorded an 11-9 win over Geneva Wednesday night.“Our bats took off against Geneva,” Hagerdon said. “We’re looking to connect a little more in key situations, and fine-tune what we’ve been seeing and our approach.”