By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

PEMBERVILLE — The trio of Adyson Bowe, Karly Wasserman and Lilly Escobedo made sure the Eastwood softball team had enough offensive firepower Friday to hold off Rossford in a 19-14 win.

In a game that featured 33 runs and 35 hits, Eastwood was one out away from taking a 12-0 lead into the fifth inning, but an error led to an offensive eruption for Rossford that nearly saw them come all the way back.

“I thought it was just a fun game,” Rossford coach Tom Kralovic said. “You’d like to win games like that when you come back but give Eastwood credit. They didn’t quit. They kept playing and adding runs.”

The trio of Bowe, Wasserman and Escobedo – Eastwood’s 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup – combined to finish 9-for-13 with nine runs and nine RBI. Bowe had two of the team’s three home runs along with Cassi Kieper, who went 2-for-5 with three-run shot.

The Eagles (7-6, 3-2 NBC) built their 12-0 lead with four in the first, seven in the second and one in the third. Bowe hit a leadoff home run in the first, and Kieper followed with her three-run blast three batters later.

A two-run dinger from Bowe in the second, along with a two-run double from Dani Black plus RBI hits from Escobedo, Maddie Hartman and Makenzie Grover helped chase Rossford’s starter, Lucy Rodriguez.

“This is the first time we hit the ball like that all year,” Eastwood coach Joe Wyant said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games all year because our top four hitters pretty much carry us. The first three hitters in our lineup did really well today, but we got at least one hit out of everybody in the lineup.”

Kieper, meanwhile, was busy retiring 10 of the first 11 batters she faced. She did allow back-to-back singles with one out in the fourth but produced a strikeout for the second out.

A potential inning ending ground ball in the next at bat, however, turned into a throwing error, and Rossford’s offense exploded.

The Bulldogs (2-8, 1-2 NBC) produced eight consecutive hits and then a bases loaded walk from Layla Nowak to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but Kieper got a strikeout to end the threat.

A two-run home run from Lucy Rodriguez, two-run doubles from Caitlyn Extine and Aubree Knudsen and an RBI double from Macy Adams highlighted the big inning for Rossford.

All 14 runs scored by Rossford were unearned.

“We can’t make bad plays,” Wyant said. “We have a bad habit of making bad plays. And for some reason the other team scores four, five, six runs on us. We just have to clean up the defense. If we do, we could be better.

Run-scoring hits from Wasserman and Escobedo in the fifth gave Eastwood two of the runs back. Escobedo then joined Bowe in the fifth with RBI hits as the Eagles took an 18-9 lead.

Rossford plated four runs in the sixth, highlighted by a three-run home run from Extine. Makayla Hady answered with an RBI bunt for the Eagles in the home half, and Camryn Almester had an RBI

single for Rossford in the seventh to close out the game’s scoring.

“I’m happy with the way we came back, fought and didn’t give up, but we have to learn to get going in the first and second innings and not wait until later in the game,” Kralovic said.

Bowe and Escobedo each had a team-best four RBI for Eastwood. In addition to the top-of-the-lineup trio, Hartman went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI while the Eagles had nine extra-base hits.

Kieper struck out 11 in a complete game victory for Eastwood.

Six Rossford hitters had at least two hits, highlighted by a combined 6-for-10 from Ary Bond and Norah Demory. The Bulldogs also totaled six extra base hits in a lineup that features five freshmen, including Extine, who hit her first home run and finished 2-for-5 with five RBI.

“We are a good hitting team when we don’t overswing,” Kralovic said. “All the way up and down the lineup, we have hitters. The whole team we have here is going to do a good job. I think we’re going to make a little push here. We’re