MENTOR—Brunswick jumped out to an early lead and never let up in a 19-9 win over host Mentor in a Greater Cleveland Conference showdown on Monday.
The Cardinals pounded out 12 hits through six innings but it wasn’t Mentor’s offense that has coach Jo Bondra concerned.
“Right now our junk pitches aren’t moving at all,” she said. “They are coming in flat, and we took our starting pitcher out because of that, and the same thing is happening with pitchers two, three, and four. We just have to figure it out pitching because we are scoring enough runs.”
Brunswick jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Mentor responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to a two-run Abby Haydu double.
The Blue Devils responded with four runs in the top of the second.
Mentor cut its deficit to 7-4 with a two-run third.
Kylie Markowski singled home Haydu, who singled, and Addison Siedler, who ran for Maggie Haydu, who had drawn a walk.
After Brunswick added a run in the fourth, the Cardinals put up two runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull to within 8-6.
Leah Temple and Bella Carcioppolo each knocked in runs during the frame.
Brunswick scored three runs in the fifth and added eight in the sixth to close out the game.
Abby Haydu led the Cardinals at the plate. She was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Temple finished with two hits and a double. Jenna Place and Markowski also hit doubles for the Cardinals. Markowski knocked in a team-high three runs.
“This group has a ton of talent, so I think it will come together,” Bondra said. “We have a lot of seniors on this team that are pretty good leaders, so we’re hoping this is a turning point for us. We just have to tear it down and go back to the drawing board and see where we are at.”
Abby Haydu knows teamwork will play a key role as the Cardinals hope to rebound from the first conference loss since May 16, 2019.
“Getting back to the team we were last year, we only cared about the conference and growing, as well as getting better as a team,” she said.
Mentor hosts Strongsville on Wednesday.
