No. 1 Mooresville opens big week with big win over Cannon School
Katelyn Brandon and the Mooresville defense hunkered down on the road to start a five-game week.
The Blue Devils escaped bases loaded jams in each of the first two innings with only one run allowed. Seven runs of their own in the top of the third gave them a lead that they would not relinquish in an 11-3 win at Cannon School.
HighSchoolOT's newest No. 1 ranked softball team pounded out 18 hits, and used seven in the third and four more in the fourth to improve to 15-0 overall.
Nicole Ratterman's RBI single in the first gave the Cougars an early 1-0 lead on their home turf.
Brandon battled back to dance out of the inning with no further danger thanks to an unassisted double play in the hot corner from Cadence Lane.
A smile of relief emerged from the senior pitcher after she ended the second inning by stranding the bases loaded.
The new found life was the spark that Mooresville needed to explode offensively, and Brandon was right at the center of it. She manufactured the game-tying run with a walk, heads up base running to get to third, then sliding in safely on a wild pitch.
Moments later, Lilly Rumrill scored from third on a wild pitch to break the floodgates open.
Avrelle Harrell singled home Macy Crum. Lane followed with a base hit, and Campbell Schaen plated both on a hard hit ball right.
Maddie Colby rocked a run-scoring triple off the wall in right then crossed when the inning's tenth batter, Maddi Altieri, notched a single through the left side.
Harrell continued to pack a punch for the Blue Devils in the fourth as she helped spark a four-run frame with a two RBI hit.
Jolie Matthews answered in Cannon's half of the fourth when she hit a two-run home run, but that would be as close as the Cougars would get for the remainder of the game.
Mooresville has a Tuesday doubleheader with A.L. Brown, and a Friday conference trip to West Cabarrus. Sandwiched in-between is a marquee matchup with No. 2 ranked Oak Grove, who like the Blue Devils, entered the week unbeaten.
Cannon will put its 5-0 conference record on the line at Charlotte Latin on Tuesday.
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