Cool, calm and collected is how Glenelg softball coach Anna Pallozzi describes senior pitcher Bella Wisniewski, wsho needed that poise to face several critical situations down the stretch of Tuesday’s game against Marriotts Ridge.

The 10th-ranked Mustangs had the tying run in scoring position each of the last two innings. But the veteran Wisniewski displayed her composure, inducing a pair of groundouts to get out of both situations. With two outs in the seventh, shortstop Rylie Thomas cleanly fielded a hard-hit grounder from Olivia Ober and fired to first, closing out the No. 2 Gladiators’ 4-3 win.

“Honestly, just making sure that I’m calm because I’m the center and I control the outcome with every pitch,” Wisniewski said. “I knew I had trust in my defense and my catcher, so just keeping them off balance and having confidence in myself is the biggest thing.”

The Mustangs and Gladiators seemingly always play tight games and Tuesday was no different. The Gladiators (6-2, 3-1 Summit Division) struck first with a pair of runs in the first, taking advantage of two Mustangs errors. Audrey Riley highlighted the inning ripping a base hit to center field.

Marriotts Ridge put at least one runner on in each of the first two innings but was unable to score. That quickly changed in the third. Clean-up hitter Gianna Peluso launched a first-pitch three-run home run to left-center field that put the Mustangs on top. It was Peluso’s second straight game with a three-run shot.

“She’s been a little bit more patient,” Marriotts Ridge coach Renard Parson said of Peluso’s approach. “As you saw in the first at-bat where she kind of jumped on the changeup, she made that adjustment in game to be a little more patient, let the ball travel a little bit deeper. She’s got tremendous power to all fields, so she doesn’t have to pull everything and jump out. She’s being a little bit more selective in the pitches that she’s been attacking and that helps big time.”

Glenelg answered right back in the fifth, capitalizing on another Marriotts Ridge error. Kaylee Brogan came around to score on a wild pitch as the Gladiators snatched momentum right back.

“Honestly it’s been a huge focal point for us,” Pallozzi said of her team’s response. “After the first loss we had this season, we talked about not counting ourselves out, especially in a close game. Them going ahead, it was still a one-run game, it was still anyone’s game. Keeping them focused and entertained in the aspect of cheering on their teammates, not counting themselves out mentally is huge. Being able to capitalize off of mistakes and being able to make those reads today was huge for the rest of the season moving forward.”

Surging with confidence, Glenelg retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Addie Pence ripped a lead-off double off the top of the fence, which brought Madison Stouffer to the plate. Before stepping into the box, Stouffer told Pallozzi, “Addie got a double, I couldn’t be the only one to not.” Stouffer and Pence share a healthy competitiveness with their statistics and Stouffer couldn’t allow Pence to one up her. She didn’t and laced a double to deep center field that brought in the go-ahead run.

“In my first at-bat, I was really early on the ball,” Stouffer said. “So, I adjusted, and I tried to get it down. I was looking for that inside high pitch because I was going early on her, so I was looking inside to get around the ball and that’s what I saw. I stayed level through it, and it worked out.”

Back in front, Wisniewski settled in the final three innings. Marriotts Ridge (7-2, 3-1) hit the ball hard and got runners on, but failed to get that one clutch hit to ultimately tie or take the lead. Meanwhile, the Gladiators are continuing to build on last year’s county championship by relying on the collective rather one player.

G: 200 110 0- 4

MR: 003 000 0-3

WP: Bella Wisniewski; LP: Olivia Ober.

2B: G: Addie Pence, Madison Stouffer, Katie Ross; MR: Leah Kim and Biff Lorah. HR: MR: Gianna Peluso.

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