A three-run home run from Maddie Sauley and a dominant performance in the circle by Regan Fuller lifted Galeton over Otto-Eldred in Northern Allegheny League play Thursday.
Sauley’s home run came in the first inning to give the Lady Tigers (6-4, 3-4) a quick 3-0 lead, and Fuller made that lead stand with a complete game performance.
The loss is the Lady Terrors’ first of the season, and the two runs put up by the team are by far a season low. Previously, the season low was set in the team’s opener, a 6-5 win against Cowanesque Valley.
Galeton coach Gregg Brown credits Fuller and the defense behind her for the performance. After committing five errors in each of the Lady Tigers’ two previous games, Galeton committed just three against Otto-Eldred (10-1, 7-1), and when those errors committed, the team was able to minimize the damage and quickly log outs.
“We had less errors today. Normally we have multiple errors,” Brown said. “We’re a fairly young team, but we played decent ball tonight.”
And, with the exception of a two-run O-E rally in the seventh, Fuller was able to prevent the Lady Terrors from stringing hits together to put up runs. Across her seven innings pitched, she gave up two runs on five hits, struck out five and surrendered no walks.
Brown points to Fuller as the team’s primary pitcher, and added that her success tonight came from her ability to put movement on her pitches.
“Her ball was moving a good bit. She’s my main workhorse and pitches in a lot of games,” he said. “Tonight her ball was moving for her and she got a few girls on the changeup.”
With that stellar pitching, Sauley’s three-run jack in the first inning ended up being the decisive blow. The southpaw batter turned on a pitch from O-E’s Abby Wolfe and put it over the right field fence.
That home run was set up by singles from Fuller and Katie Pagano. Pagano went 2-for-4 on the day, and one of her hits was a double.
Wolfe settled in after giving up the homer. The lefty held Galeton scoreless the rest of the way as part of her complete game outing. She struck out 14 batters and gave up only five hits and two walks.
“Abby showed a lot of dominance today. She’s a machine and she’s going to be a good pitcher for us for the next three years,” Otto-Eldred coach Roger Veilleux said.
Unfortunately for Wolfe, O-E couldn’t generate any offense until the seventh inning. In that frame, Wolfe led off with a double, her second hit of the day, and Kayley Heller singled and then stole second to put runners in scoring position.
Then, with those two on, Haylee Frederick drilled a line drive into left field for a two-RBI double to draw the Lady Terrors to within 3-2.
“Haylee has been staying on top of the ball the last two or three games,” Veilleux said. “She’s one of our captains, and she stepped up to the plate for us today.”
A sacrifice bunt from Harlee VanScooter moved Frederick to third with just one out, but Fuller earned a pair of outs on a strikeout and a pop out to first to end the game.
Despite the season-low two runs, Veilleux is confident his team will get back on track quickly.
“This is just going to make us hungrier. We’ll be back,” he said.
Otto-Eldred is off until Monday, when the team hosts Sheffield at 4:30 p.m. Galeton hosts North Penn-Liberty today at 4:30.
