Mount St. Joseph Academy picked up a good non-league victory in softball last Wednesday, rallying in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 decision from visiting Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

Ahead 4-0 midway through the fifth, the SCH Blue Devils pulled their reliable starting pitcher, freshman Sami Snyder. It was a bit of a gamble, because while the Mount had not been able to score up to that point, the Magic were making contact with the ball, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning and stranding a runner on third base in the fourth.

In the fifth, the Mounties jumped all over the Devils' reliever, scoring all of their six runs in that frame. SCH sent Snyder back in for the bottom of the sixth, but in their last two batting turns the visitors could only produce one run, coming up short against the home team, 6-5.

Entering the game, the two teams were in second place in their respective leagues. The Mount was 6-6 overall and 3-2 within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies. In the AACA, the Magic had lost to league leader Villa Maria and had split in its series against Gwynedd Mercy (which lost to both Villa Maria and Villa Joseph Marie).

SCH was 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the Inter-Ac League, having suffered a 2-1 setback against first-place Episcopal Academy in mid-April.

In last Wednesday's non-league bout sophomore Daria Yohe went the distance in the circle to pick up the win, recording six strike-outs with two walks and eight hits. If five innings of work the Blue Devils' Snyder struck out five batters and walked none, while giving up two hits. Throwing in the bottom of the fifth, SCH freshman Cecelia Pressman logged two walks and yielded four hits to the Mounties.

At the top of the first, MSJ's Yohe struck out the first batter she faced. She then walked junior Morgan Risnychok, who would advance to second when a fly ball was caught well in foul territory in left field. Snyder then drove a two-run homer over the fence in left.

In the circle, Snyder got the Magic out in order in the first and second frames. At the top of the second, freshman Callan Curry led off with a single for the Blue Devils, but then Yohe shut down the side.

Risnychok started SCH off in the third with a base hit, but had to hold at first while the next two batters had fly balls caught by the Magic's centerfielder, sophomore Emily Markowski. Sarah Scally, Springside's sophomore catcher, was hit by a pitch, then an RBI single by eighth-grader Emma Canton put the visitors up 3-0.

An error, a double to shallow center by senior Vivian Moore, and a hit batter loaded the bases for Mount St. Joseph with two outs in the bottom of the third. A fly ball caught in right field ended the threat.

After the Blue Devils went down one-two-three in the top of the fourth, the bottom half began with a double down the left field line by Magic junior Jewel Schaefer. Yohe moved her to third with a ground-out, but Schaefer got no farther as Snyder struck out the next two batters.

After SCH senior Kama Bode singled through the left side of the infield to lead off the fifth inning, Synder smacked a ball which ricocheted off of Yohe in the circle. She ended up safe at first, with Bode on third. Scally hit a line drive single over short to score what would be the visitors' final run of the afternoon, making it 4-0.

There were still no outs, but the next three batters popped out, grounded out, and struck out.

In the home half of the inning, the Magic got junior Sabrina Alcorn on board when she was hit by a pitch. Singles by freshman Leah Hartzel and by Moore loaded the bases, and a walk to junior Madison Press pushed home the Magic's first run. A Markowski ground-out brought in a second run, and a third scored on a wild pitch.

The batter at the time, Schaefer, walked, the Yohe grounded out to the left side of the infield, earning an RBI and tying the game at 4-4. Another batter was hit by a pitch, and then a single by junior Charlotte Kephart loaded the bases once more. On a hit to shallow center by Alcorn, a relatively slow relay throw to third base resulted in the last two Mount runs of the day, giving the hosts a 6-4 advantage.

The sixth was a one-two-three inning for both teams (SCH had sent Snyder back into the circle), and in the seventh the Blue Devils started out with Bode drawing a walk. A strike-out followed, then Bode stole second before Scally drove the ball to centerfield. The ball bounced by the fielder, getting Scally to second while a run scored to make it 6-5. Canton came up for SCH, making contact on a full-count pitch but flying out to centerfield. A ground-out then ended the game, the Magic emerging victorious.