RAMS FIND A SPARK IN THE FIFTH

MINERAL RIDGE OH— It took a little while to get cooking, but once Mineral Ridge got rolling, there was no stopping them. A huge seven-run fifth inning blew the doors open as the Rams ran away with a 10-0 win over Memorial on Monday.

The Rams scratched across the first run in the opening frame when Maddie Gerberry grounded out to bring one home. From there, it was a bit of a slow burn — until the fifth.

Savannah Turek lit the spark with a bases-clearing double that drove in three. A Memorial error let another run score, and Sullivan Sandy capped the monster inning by ripping a base hit that brought three more across. Just like that, a tight game turned into a mercy-rule rout.

Lily Merolillo took care of the rest, spinning a five-inning shutout. She gave up just three hits, struck out eight, and walked two, keeping Memorial guessing all afternoon.

At the plate, Mineral Ridge piled up 10 hits. Turek, Sandy, and Merolillo each knocked two apiece, with Sandy leading the charge with three RBI.

Memorial managed a few hits from Mileena Williams, Abby Broz, and Savannah Cleland, but couldn’t string anything together against Merolillo.