7th-Ranked Loara Shows No. 4 Kennedy Who’s Boss

The last thing anyone expected Tuesday in the Empire League showdown between seventh-ranked Loara and fourth-ranked Kennedy was a 7-0 game.

But seven was Loara’s lucky number as the young--and surprising--Saxons showed themselves worthy of top 10 status.

It was the Saxons’ third consecutive victory over Kennedy dating to last season. It also showed that Loara’s early season success with five sophomore starters was no fluke.

“I think that we finally proved ourselves, I don’t think people had a lot of confidence in us,” said sophomore Alicia Owen, who benefited from the run support and pitched a four-hit shutout to improve her record to 11-1.

“The past couple of years we’ve had close games against them,” she said. “To come out ahead 7-0 was a surprise. A good surprise.”

A five-run fourth inning was all Loara (13-1, 1-0) needed to take the steam out of a Kennedy team that has played plenty of come-from-behind ball so far this year.

Loara loaded the bases with no outs after singles by Jenna Wheeler and Lauren Lappin (three hits) and a throwing error on a fielder’s choice. A walk to Mandy Servello then gave the Saxons a 1-0 lead. Then Tinamarie DeLeon’s grounder to third was booted, pushing across two more runs.

The Saxons extended their lead to 5-0 on a single by Jackie Huniu and a scoring ground ball by Cherish Henson.

Kennedy starting pitcher Michelle Turner (8-2) took the loss but yielded only two earned runs. She also led the Fighting Irish (10-2, 1-1) with two hits.