SARNIA – It’s onto the regular season from here.
On Wednesday night, the Lambton Women’s Softball Program completed its 2023 preseason with an exhibition doubleheader against the Conestoga Condors at Germain Park.
The Lions and Condors would end up splitting the doubleheader, with each school picking up a win in similar fashion as comebacks from the opposing school fell short in the end. Conestoga held on in Game One for a 9-7 win, while the Lions bounced back and picked up a 7-6 win in Game Two.
In Game One, the Lions featured seven newcomers in their starting lineup, with first year pitcher Laila Pachucki (London, Ont.) getting the start on the mound.
Conestoga raced out to an early 5-0 lead through two innings thanks in part to back-to-back doubles in the second inning. The Lions got on the board in the third inning after three consecutive singles from their 3-4-5 hitters eventually brought Arika Irwin (Beaver Bank, N.S.) home.
Later, after Conestoga extended their lead to 8-2 through four innings, the Lions started to mount their comeback. In the fifth inning, the Lions racked up five runs to cut the deficit down to just one, at 8-7. The Lions opened the inning with five consecutive batters reaching base, four of which were via singles.
The Lions sent 10 batters to the plate during the fifth inning.
Despite their best efforts, the comeback efforts fell short in the end. Conestoga would add an insurance run in the seventh inning, and the visitors held on for the 9-7 win.
Game Two had a flipped script from Game One, as the Lions and Condors seemingly traded roles in the flow of the game.
Avery Moninger (Wallaceburg, Ont.) got the start in Game Two on the mound for the Lions. After stranding a Conestoga runner at third in the top half of the first inning, she gave herself some run insurance at the plate in the bottom half.
After Dani Ramseyer (Shakespeare, Ont.) walked to lead off the bottom of the first, Moninger connected on a ball that went well over the right fielder’s head. Moninger then showed off her speed on the basepaths, beating a throw home for the inside-the-park home run.
The Lions would add a third run before the inning was out and they held a 3-0 lead after the first.
Moninger would end up throwing four scoreless innings on the mound, and the Lions would take a 7-0 lead into the fifth inning.
Like the Lions did in Game One, the Condors got their offense in rhythm as the game wore on. In the fifth, the Condors capitalized on a pair of Lambton errors to get their offense in motion with a three-run inning.
In the fifth and sixth innings, the offense for the Lions went silent while Conestoga continued to chip away at their deficit. The Condors added a pair in the sixth to get within two and threatened to tie things up in the top of the seventh.
With one out and the score sitting at 7-6 and with a Conestoga runner on second, pitcher Paiton Choy (Oshawa, Ont.) buckled down and made sure that the Lions came away with the win. She struck out the next batter and got the next hitter to ground out to short to end the game.
The Lions started strong in Game Two and held on down the stretch for the 7-6 win in Game Two to earn the exhibition split.
With the preseason now in the rearview mirror, the Lions now shift their focus to the 2023 regular season. With the completion of Wednesday’s doubleheader, the makeup of this year’s roster is in its final stages of completion and will be finalized soon.
The Lions will open the 2023 regular season at a three-team mini tournament on Saturday, September 9th in Windsor with games against the St. Clair Saints and Conestoga. Their first home games will be on Sunday, September 10th in another three-team mini tournament, this time at Tecumseh Park.
The Fanshawe Falcons and Mohawk Mountaineers will come to Sarnia for a series of three games, beginning at 11:00 a.m. on the 10th.