On Friday, April 8th, the Cabrini softball team traveled to Waterford to face Our Lady of the Lakes (Lakes) in a doubleheader. The first game was extended to extra innings, before Lakes pushed across the winning run and defeated the Monarchs 5-4 in 8 innings.

Lakes struck first, plating two runs in the bottom of the second. The Monarchs responded in the top of the fourth with two runs to tie it up. Freshman Aryanna Sandusky kicked off the scoring when she tripled to right field on a full count, then scored on a passed ball. Junior Mary Schantz singled up the middle, then advanced all the way to third on an error by the center fielder. Freshman Morgan Frank then induced a fielder's choice that allowed Schantz to score and earned Frank an RBI.

Lakes plated one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Monarchs were not going to back down quietly. Senior Samantha Graf singled on a beautiful bunt in the top of the seventh to reach first safely. Graf then stole second to get into scoring position with Sophomore Ashley Pelc at the plate. Pelc singled on a line drive down the third base line that scored Graf. That run tied the game up at 3 apiece and forced the home team to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

Cabrini held the Lakers scoreless in the bottom of the seventh and then took the lead in the top of the 8th, scoring one run. Sandusky again kicked off the scoring effort with a double down the left field line, then scored on a hard ground ball single by Schantz.

The Monarchs had the lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, but an error and a single through the left side allowed one run to score and a second baserunner to reach for Lakes. Sophomore pitcher Brianna Manning then induced a ground-out fielder's choice, but the base runner scored to end the game.

Manning took the loss for Cabrini. She battled the rain from the pitching rubber for seven and a third innings, allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out 11. Cabrini tallied seven total hits. Sandusky and Shantz each collected two hits to lead the Monarchs.

Game two was a battle as well but resulted in another loss for the Monarchs. Cabrini fell behind early and just couldn't come back in a 6-0 defeat. Lakes took the lead on an error in the first inning, the first of five committed by the young Monarch team, then continued to plate a run or two in almost every inning to follow.

Manning again took the loss, pitching five innings, allowing four hits and six runs while striking out eight and walking one. Graf, fellow Senior Ella Nowc, and Manning each collected one hit while Sophomore Amy Tran drew a walk to account for the Monarchs four base runners of the game.

Coach Stephanie Plona said, "The first game was a fun one to compete in, and of course, a tough one to lose. You always want to come out on the winning end of an extra-innings battle. Regardless, I'm very proud of the competitive spirit our team displayed. When playing conditions are less than optimal due to weather, it can be easy to lose focus and fight.

Instead, the team used it as fuel and wanted to battle for the W even more. They weren't playing in cold and rain to just let the other team take it easy, and I saw that in every at bat, every pitch, and every cheer from players on the bench. The seven hits scattered among multiple players shows just how strong our lineup can be. The story of the second game is a tale as old as time in the softball world - committing multiple errors will rarely result in a win. Those games happen from time to time - we'll put in the work at practice and shore up our defense for the next battle!

Cabrini's next contest is a doubleheader when they host Grosse Pointe University Liggette on Monday April 11th for a doubleheader.