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By Jaclyn Yingling
For the Mirror
FLINTON -- Despite coming in as the top seed for the District 6 Class A playoffs, the Glendale softball team had a little bit of nerves on Monday against Bishop McCort.
But once the bats got warmed up, the Lady Vikings had little trouble sealing the deal, toppling the eighth-seeded Lady Crusaders, 7-1.
"I saw a lot of nerves I didn't expect," said Glendale coach Bruce Vereshack. "This team is seasoned. They've been to the district finals before. Hopefully, we will get past that in our next game."
Both teams put runners on in the first two innings, but just couldn't squeeze that run across.
McCort got its best chance to score in the top of the third.
Kylie Kadas walked to start the frame, before moving to second on a wild pitch.
With two outs, Kayleigh Horner walked. Autumn Ricketts stepped up to the plate and smacked a single into center. McCort head coach Rick Conrad waived Kadas home. But a laser throw from Best at the cutoff spot, hit Rydbom's glove just as she tagged Kadas out.
The Lady Vikings finally got things going against Ricketts in the bottom of the third.
Caitlyn Rydbom doubled into center to start off the inning, before Best hit a single to the center-field wall that plated her to make it 1-0.
Kaprice Cavalet doubled, but Ricketts got a lineout, a strikeout and a groundout to leave them stranded.
Glendale started the fourth inning with a walk and a hit by pitch to Kelly Kasaback and Koltlyn Cavalet, respectively.
After a groundout, Rydbom stepped up to the plate and blasted a single into center, easily scoring both Kasaback and Cavalet to make it 3-0.
But the Lady Vikings weren't done yet, as Best stepped up to the plate and hit a towering homer over the center-field fence, plating Rydbom as well, to widen the lead to 5-0.
"It's usually Riley that does that, but Caitlyn's hit seemed to get us started," Vereshack said. "I kept telling the girls the dam is going to break, it's just a matter of time.
"And it broke. Riley hit those two bombs. They were over the trees."
Bishop McCort loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning with no outs. But Peterson buckled down to get a flyout, a strikeout and a ground out to third to get out of the jam with no runs.
"What a game for a freshman," Vereshack said of Peterson. "She had 13 strikeouts. What can you say? She's only going to get better. She had some nerves too. She did hang a couple of pitches and paid for it.
"We kept telling her to make her pitches and everything would play out. That's what they have been doing all year."
Glendale added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Best's second homer of the day and a wild pitch, which allowed Peterson to score and make it 7-0.
McCort finally got a run in the top of the seventh, as Alayna Marion had a two-out double, then came home on a single by Horner.
Peterson struck out the next batter, setting the final. She finished the game with 13 strikeouts.
Glendale improved to 15-1 overall. The Lady Vikings will host Ferndale, a 4-0 winner over Williamsburg, on Thursday.
Bishop McCort (1): Marion ss 411, Horner c 303, Ricketts p 402, B. Bair 3b 200, Bailey 1b 300, R. Bair 2b 300, H. Bair cf 300, Kadas lf 200, Ritenhour rf 100, Hinton ph 100. Totals--26-1-6.
Glendale (7): Best ss 423, Ka. Cavalet 2b 402, Peterson p 412, Buterbaugh 3b 400, Taylor rf 301, Kasaback cf 312, Ko. Cavalet dp 210, Williams 1b 300, Rydbom c 302, C. Richards cr 020, A. Richards lf 000. Totals-- 30-7-12.
Score by Innings
Bishop McCort…..000 000 1--1 6 0
Glendale…………….001 402 x--7 12 0
LOB--Bishop McCort 8. 2B--Marion. Ka. Cavalet, Peterson, Rydbom. HR--Best 2. RBI — Horner, Best 4, Rydbom 2
Pitching
Bishop McCort: Ricketts--6 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO.
Glendale: Peterson--7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 13 SO.
WP--Peterson (7-0). LP--Ricketts.