MENTOR–A hot night in Lake County provided the atmosphere for a hot night at the plate for a group of talented players in the 2022 Ohio Varsity All-Star Classic on June 15.
North senior Juliana Augusta and her Rockford Peaches teammates certainly made their final game a memorable one.
Augusta sparked an offensive outburst with a two-run home run in the fourth inning and the Peaches went on to defeat the Racine Belles, 14-0, at Mentor High’s new softball facility.
Augusta, playing for Rangers JV coach Jordan Kramer on the Peaches, hit a ball over the center-field fence that gave her team a 3-0 lead and plenty of energy.
“I love low pitches so when I saw it come in I knew it was my pitch,” Augusta said. “I think it sparked us and we just all got loose and had even more fun after that. It was exciting.”
Mentor senior Bella Carcioppolo had two singles, a triple, and two RBI. She also had the opportunity to play on her home field one final time.
“Honestly, it was special to play on this field again and to beat a team as good as they are and score 14 runs. I was shocked we scored that many runs.”
South’s Nia Guess set up the first run of the game with her speed, reaching first on a passed ball and eventually coming around to score on other Racine miscues.
Rockford put the game away with nine runs in the sixth inning, keyed by two-run hits from North’s Autumn Fester and Independence’s Sophie George.
A host of pitchers for the Peaches held the Belles to two hits– a single by Daliz Alvarez and a double by Jensen Sminchak.
NDCL senior Madi Dutton, who was named the 2022 Ohio Varsity Player of the Year, earned the pitching victory as she started the contest and also threw the final inning to add an exclamation point to her season. Dutton also had an RBI hit in the nine-run sixth.
Riverside’s Grace Fisher was named the Ohio Varsity Pitcher of the Year, and Perry’s Madeline Infalvi earned the Ohio Varsity Freshman of the Year award.
She had a two run homer to just about dead center, Juliana Augusta of @northrangers talks about what she saw and how soon she knew it was gone #NHSoftball pic.twitter.com/eUfAx1Jf9Q
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) June 16, 2022
Bella Carcioppolo got to play at home for one final time in her high school career. She talks about getting to close this chapter at @MentorAthletics and preparing for the next one #NHSoftball pic.twitter.com/MVuOSTzpdt
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) June 16, 2022
It was a final time on the diamond as teammates for Amanda Kolar and Grace Fisher representing @Riverside_athl. The duo talked about one final time as Beavers #NHSoftball pic.twitter.com/4Wu9OiB12o
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) June 16, 2022
