GAMBLE PILOTS CLIPPERS TO BIG TIME WIN
By Matt Maher
BOARDMAN, OH – What a night to be Mackenzie Gamble! The Clippers senior starter threw an absolute game on Friday evening when her and her hard hitting team landed hard on the Spartans in a 10-1 victory.
Gamble blanked the Spartans in the 1st with a leadoff strikeout but the 2nd inning saw Rivera leadoff with a double and immediately following her was Habeger who batted her in with a short infield single. Gamble retired the next 3 and cruised her way through the following 4 frames, striking out 6 more batters, totaling 7 on the evening and only allowing 1 more hit for a total of 4 in the game! If that doesn’t describe dominant I’m not sure what does!
The Spartans sent out Kowacich to start in the circle. The Sophomore pitcher found the first 2 outs on 3 batters in the first but trouble struck after the second out as Gamble got a base hit to get a second runner aboard and then Perkins batted in a run with a single, then Davanzo batted in a run with single, then Bell batted in a run with a single! Kowacich blanked the Clippers in the next 2 innings earning her second K along the way.
The Clippers got to her again in the 4th with a 2 out triple from Hepler who ended up being brought home from a single from Dota. Dota would be brought in during the next at bat when Pleska hammered a hard hit triple into left field. Gamble would reward Pleska further by bringing her in on a single the next at bat. Strines came in for an inning of relief in the 5th and found a strikeout for out 2 but, yet again, with 2 outs Columbiana struck, Dota stepped up to the plate and DID NOT MISS! A 3-run home run to left field blew the game wide open and cemented the victory for Columbiana.
Kowacich came Back for the final 2 frames, kept the Clippers off the board in the 6th, and gave up 1 more run in the 7th thanks to a Gamble RBI single.
Kowacich ended the night with 6.1IP, 5 Ks, 9 ER off of 12 Hits while Strines threw .2IP, 2 Ks and 1 ER.
The Spartans had some good looks but Gamble was simply better in this matchup and she led her team both in the circle and in the batter’s box within a huge win on the road! The Clippers (19-3) will be back home on April 29th to host United at 5Pm while Boardman (8-11) are scheduled to host both Lakeview and Cardinal Mooney on April 27th with the Lakeview game scheduled for 11AM and the Mooney game scheduled for 2:30PM.
