BETHEL — For the first three innings, the Mountain Valley lineup was held in check.

Telstar’s Jessica Dirago seemingly cruised through those innings, scattering three hits. But as Wednesday’s game wore on, the Falcons bats came to life and the Rebels struggled to keep pace.

“We always take an inning to get going,” said Mountain Valley coach Deb Buotte. “That’s what I always tell them. Then we just go.”

After getting a single run in the fourth inning, the Falcons opened the lead in the fifth with four runs. Mountain Valley turned that into a 6-1 win over the defending Class C state champion Rebels.

“Tonight was big,” said Mountain Valley coach Gary Dolloff. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’ve never even been close in a game with them. The girls know it’s a good program and they wanted to come up here and win.”

Lindsay Marston scattered four hits in the circle while Aly Carlton, Kirstin Ridge and Kasey Smith all had two hits at the plate to lead the Falcons (5-2). The Falcons also got some fine defensive plays from catcher Katie Collette and centerfielder Shannon Laubauskas.

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Telstar got a solid pitching performance from Dirago, but the Rebels were plagued by seven errors in the field.

“I’m pleased overall,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “We gave them five unearned runs, but Jessie threw well overall. We gave them some runs, and we made some mistakes offensively.”

Maisey Griffin had a pair of hits for Telstar (2-3).

Telstar had a chance to strike first with two runners on in the bottom of the first. Kallie Brown singled and Dirago walked. Marston produced a ground out and then struck out a batter to end the inning. The Rebels didn’t have another baserunner until the bottom of the fourth.

“We had the opportunity to go ahead early,” said Lunney. “Then halfway through the game, we stopped swinging.”

The Falcons got the first run in fourth. Brooke Dolloff singled to center and the ball was misplayed in the outfield and bobbled on the relay. Dolloff kept running and scored. Then in the fifth, the Falcons had four hits and took advantage of two more errors to make it 5-0.

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“Once we get the lead, that gives them the confidence to keep it going,” said Falcons coach Lisa Russell. “That’s when they really started hitting.”

In the fifth, Carlton and Ridge singled. An error on a steal attempt allowed Carlton to score. Another error as Ridge tried to take third on the play allowed her to score. 

Then with two outs, Smith singled and Marston was hit by a pitch. Delaney Paterson followed with a two-run single.

“There were plays we didn’t make,” said Lunney. “We’re a young team. This is what we’ve seen all year.”

Telstar got one back in the bottom of the fifth when Sadie Ellsworth walked and advanced on an error. She scored  on a double steal with Taylor Savage racing to second.

Mountain Valley added a final run in the sixth when Laubauskas reached on an error and scored on two more Telstar miscues.

kmills@sunjournal.com


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