High school softball: Firelands rallies past Wellington to stay unbeaten in the Lorain County League

WELLINGTON — It's early, but Firelands is trying to make a statement in the Lorain County League. The Falcons stayed undefeated in league play Tuesday, downing Wellington 6-5 despite falling behind 4-0. Firelands improved to 3-1 overall, 3-0 in the LCL. Defense let Firelands down early, leading to all four Dukes runs in the first three innings against starting pitcher Jeanette Crawford, who struck out nine while walking only two. With two down in the first, Wellington pitcher Mallory Pickering hit a fly ball to left that was misplayed. She came home on a Lily Oswald double. Three Wellington runs scored in the third after Kiera Phillips and Autumn Rhodes singled. The Firelands fielder tried to force Phillips at second on Rhodes' hit only to have the throw end up across the diamond for one run. Pickering drove home Rhodes with a single to left and she eventually scored on a Grace Denes hit up the middle. The Falcons couldn't solve Pickering, who struck out 13, getting just one hit through five innings, but they took advantage of a Wellington miscue to score three times without the benefit of a hit. Angela Beno and Paige Coggins, the eight and nine hitters, walked before Lexi Schrader smoked a ball under the Wellington second baseman that rolled all the way to the fence. Two runs scored and Schrader ended up at third. "It means a lot to get this win, (Pickering) is one of the best pitchers in this conference and we were able to start getting the bat on the ball," Schrader said. "It's great that we're making contact like that so early in the season." "I knew we were in trouble with girls on base and Schrader coming up," Dukes coach Merle Simmons said. "She's a great ballplayer, and you just can't take anything away from her. She's a great athlete that makes things happen for them." Mandy DeWitt followed with an RBI grounder to second to cut the score to 4-3 through the top of the fifth. With the offense finally starting to come alive, the Falcons tied the game in the sixth. Aubrynn Reichle reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a Karlee Songer single to right-center. The Falcons took the lead for good in the seventh when Schrader reached base for the fourth time with a hit to right. DeWitt, who struck out twice batting left-handed, moved to the other side of the plate and crushed a triple to right-center for another run and she came home on a Janosik line-drive sacrifice fly to center for a 6-4 lead. "I've been a switch-hitter since I was 8 and I decided to give myself a different look at the pitcher after the strikeouts," DeWitt said. "It ended up really paying off. I was able to see the ball much better after that." The Dukes rallied in their half of the inning. Phillips singled, moved up on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a Pickering hit. In between, however, Rhodes singled, almost getting robbed by Beno in right on a diving attempt only to have center fielder Paige Coggins pick up the ball and throw a strike to second to get Rhodes, keeping a runner out of scoring position. Crawford left Pickering at second with a strikeout and a groundout to preserve the win. "We started out slow with the bats and made some crucial errors," Falcons coach Chad Parsons said. "Pickering is so good and we couldn't catch up at the beginning. We just battled and were able to pull this one out." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.