Grace Legan continued her assault on opposing pitchers in leading Chardon to a 13-3 five-inning non-conference win at West Geauga on Thursday.
Legan finished the game 4-for-4 with four runs scored and four runs batted in.
“When I get in the box, my job is to get on base any way possible to help our team,” Legan said. “My confidence comes from my teammates and coaches. We feed off of each other’s positive energy.”
Legan singled in the first inning, homered over the fence in the second, hit an inside-the-park homer in the third, and closed out her day with a fifth-inning single.
“It made me feel so excited and proud of myself for all the hard work I’ve put into softball,” Legan said of her homers “After I saw the ball go over the girl’s head I just started to sprint. As I got to third all I could hear was, ‘go, go, go.’ It felt amazing, but shocking at the same time.”
Through Chardon’s last four games, Legan has 12 hits in 15 at-bats.
“She’s got the power and a natural swing,” said Chardon coach Stewart Landies. Every time she hits the ball, she hits it hard. She’s never just popping it up, she always hits it hard somewhere.”
The Hilltoppers scored one run in the top of the first and added two in the second. They broke the game open with an eight-run third.
Chardon led 12-0 before West Geauga added three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Sidney Nagaj recorded two hits for the Hilltoppers with one double and Mackenzie Kilpeck also doubled in the game.
“Mackenzie Kilpeck had a great game,” Landies said. “She’s a sophomore catcher but man does she lead. She kept more balls in front of her tonight and threw a runner out at first on a pickoff attempt. She’s playing way, way beyond her age and filling the role of Maddie Russo from last year, which helps a lot.”
Sidney Murray allowed three unearned runs on two hits and struck out 10 in a five-inning complete game.
The Hilltoppers have now won three straight games to improve to 5-3 on the year.
“I think mentally we have to learn to play stronger,” Landies said. “It went well for three innings but then we had a little bit of a letdown, but they played well.”
Chardon hosts Wickliffe on Friday.
