Nearing the end of softball season, Poland has forged a record of 10-10. Although this seems drab, the team has played a tough schedule including state level teams like Lakeview and Boardman. Furthermore, the team is very young, only starting two seniors consequent to injury for two of the team’s quintessential seniors (Pitcher, Lilly McDonald, and Shortstop, Elliana Thompson).

The team’s starting lineup is now mostly made up of sophomores and freshmen. This includes the teams two main pitchers Madison Medvec (Sophomore), and Ali Blinsky (Freshman).  The two have a combined ERA of 6.5.

Medvec recently hit 100 career strikeouts from the circle. Blinsky looks to achieve this her sophomore year as well, after an impressive Freshmen season with 61 strikeouts thus far. Furthermore, during the team’s spring break trip to Tennessee, Blinsky threw her first no hitter against Homer-Center (PA). 

Obviously, the underclassmen have had a major role in this season, but Seniors, Avery Jakubovic and Leanna Boccieri have led the team. Jakubovic plays centerfield and ties together the rest of the outfield which includes Brooklyn Kosco and Emma Boccieri who are both freshmen. This trio has had the outfield locked down with a combined fielding percentage of 0.900.

Similarly, L. Boccieri has led the infield along with help from Juniors, Cassie Blanch, and Sydney Bulick.

L. Boccieri has no errors on the season, and she has really impressed offensively. L. Boccieri has a 0.533 batting average thus far, and does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. The senior leads off for the Bulldogs, and has a whopping thirty-two hits just this season. In addition, L. Boccieri recently hit 100 career hits in the team’s home opener against Niles.

Similarly, Junior, Cassie Blanch has a batting average of 0.407. Although consistent too, Blanch is primarily a power hitter seen by her 25 RBI’s this season. In a game against Niles, Blanch hit back to back home runs in the same inning to secure a large lead for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs have competed in many fierce match ups this year, but we would like to focus on their game against Elizabethtown (KY) during their trip to Tennessee. This game went into overtime with four extra innings after the Bulldogs tied it up in the 7th. In these extra innings, both teams held each other to six runs. Elizabethtown loaded the bases multiple times within this span, but ultimately had nothing to show for it consequent to Poland’s tight defense.

Eventually, in the eleventh inning, Poland broke through to score two runs off of sac buns by Sophomores, Lilly Madeline, and Lena Schafer drove in by L. Boccieri who was 4-5 on the day. Elizabethtown fought back with a run of their own, but ultimately the dogs secured the win when Medvec struck out Elizabethtown’s final batter with the tying run on third base. This exhilarating game gave the team the momentum for the rest of their trip to secure a 3-2 record on the week. 

Overall, this young team has many expectations as it develops, and the upperclassmen have created a strong base for this growth through their grit and hard work.