ELYRIA — According to Elyria coach Ken Fenik, Hudson got the win that counted in June when the Explorers downed the Pioneers 4-0 in the Division I state championship game.
Wednesday, whether Fenik wanted to admit it or not — and he wouldn’t — the Pioneers had a cleansing of sorts when they turned back the visiting Explorers, 3-0.
The win improves the Pioneers to 5-0 on the season, while Hudson suffered its first loss to fall to 3-1.
“The way we played today was tremendous,” Fenik said. “They (Hudson) are an awesome team and they aren’t going to lose many games. Tess pitched her butt off today. She had her stuff working for her. We kept crossing them up.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her and her catcher (Jennifer Bower). They worked together and called a terrific game. I’m just pumped that we won.”
It was a pitchers’ duel the first five innings as Sito and Hudson’s Mindy Meredith seemingly had their own private game going on. The first two innings were duplicates. Each pitcher faced four batters and notched a strikeout in the first inning, then faced three batters with the same results — three strikeouts.
“My pitches were working today,” Sito said. “When I was warming up, everything felt great. I felt that I had a good command of my pitches. I’ve been practicing everyday whether we have a team practice or not. I’ll go home and practice with my Dad so I keep working and focusing on everything.”
Elyria threatened in the third when Jessica Mandula reached base on a one-out single. Mandula managed to get to third on a pair of steals, but was left stranded when Meredith struck out Cynthia Woodard to end the inning.
Hudson had a chance in the sixth when Shana Greene ripped a double into right field with two outs. The hit didn’t faze Sito, however, as she came back to record her 10th strikeout to end the Hudson threat.
Mandula led off the bottom of the sixth with her second single of the game. Fenik quickly lifted Mandula for pinch-runner Megan Bashak.
“I wasn’t surprised that coach pulled me in that situation,” Mandula said. “We needed to score a run and Megan is faster on the bases than me. And, at that point, we needed a run and she was the better option.”
Kristen Boros hit into a fielder’s choice that moved Bashak to second base. A line drive single to right field by Woodard put Bashak on third with one out. With runners at the corners, all the Pioneers needed was a little wiggle room and they got it, courtesy of a passed ball.
Bashak scored easily as a Meredith pitch got by Georgia Stokes to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Following a Sito hit that moved Woodard to third base, Sarah Bracey cleared the bases with a hit to right field for a 3-0 Pioneer lead.
The inning ended on a double play when Jessica Bellottie hit a pop up to third base and Bracey was caught before she could get back to first base.
Sito returned to the mound in the top of the seventh and promptly got her 11th strikeout. Following a Hudson single, the Pioneers got the next two batters out to secure the win.
“Give Elyria all the credit,” Hudson coach Frank Caraballo said. “They wanted this game and took it. When push came to shove, they played small ball and won.
“They took advantage of some openings and we paid the price for it.”

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.