Ramirez, Velotta lead E-Gals to win
Arianna Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in four runs, Mallory Velotta finished 3-for-3 with a home run and three runs, and Apollo’s defense gave up only three hits in an 8-2 victory over South Spencer (Ind.) on Tuesday at E-Gal Park.
Apollo (15-10) surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the first inning but didn’t allow any further damage for the remainder of the contest.
“After the first inning, we played pretty well,” said E-Gals head coach Stephen Julian. “The first inning, we were pretty shaky, but we hit and ran the bases well tonight. We made most of the routine plays — not all of them, but most of them.
“We had good energy. Hitting is contagious, so we got several key hits. It was a good win.”
Apollo responded in the bottom of the first when Taylor Clark drew a walk and scored two batters later on Macy Calhoun’s RBI triple to right field.
In the bottom of the second inning, Hannah Holder singled and moved all the way to third base on an error before courtesy runner Abby Miles scored the game-tying run on Emersyn Bullington’s sacrifice fly. Moments later, Velotta belted a shot to right field and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run and a 3-2 lead.
Julian credited his players for staying calm and focused throughout the game.
“Even when it was 3-2, they were relaxed in the dugout. If they could relax all the time, it’d be good,” he said, laughing.
The E-Gals added two more runs for a 5-2 advantage in the bottom of the fourth after getting a leadoff walk from Bullington, a single from Velotta and a two-RBI double by Ramirez.
Apollo capped off scoring with a trio of runs in the fifth. Liza Page clubbed a double to center field, Sydney Stallings hit an RBI single up the middle, Velotta had another base hit, and Ramirez smacked a two-run double to left field.
Holder earned the pitching win after striking out two batters and allowing one hit with no earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.
“We had a couple of miscues early, but we settled down and made most of the plays from that point on,” Julian said of his defense. “We had three errors still, but they didn’t hurt us. Typically, when we have errors, we have multiple in the same inning, but not tonight.”
Page finished with two hits for Apollo.
Rachel Wittman had two RBIs in the first inning for South Spencer (3-15).
The E-Gals, who have won nine of their last 10 outings, return to action Thursday when they host Madisonville-North Hopkins.
SOUTH SPENCER|200 000 0 — 2 3 1
APOLLO|120 230 x — 8 13 3
WP-Holder. LP-Wink. 2B-Ramirez, Page (A). 3B-Calhoun (A). HR-Velotta (A).
