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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers were firing on all cylinders as they made short work of the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers, scoring five runs in the first inning and never looking back.

Pelham defeated John Carroll 14-4 in five innings on Thursday, April 10 at Pelham High School as the Panthers bounced back from a Tuesday loss to Chelsea in area play.

After dispatching a pair of runners in the top of the first, a Laini Stewart walk and Taylor Howard single set up Jordan Young to bring a run home off a sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.

That lead quickly grew to 3-0 as four of the next five batters walked, the latter two with the bases loaded to score runs. Rebecca Roy followed that up with a two-run single to give the Panthers a 5-0 lead.

Back-to-back singles from Howard and Young to start the second paved the way for an Emery Plunkett RBI single to make it a 6-0 game.

The rally resumed in the bottom of the third with singles from Bella Lee and Roy to start the inning. Stewart scored a run off an RBI double before an error off a Howard ground ball to short put Pelham in front 8-0.

Young then drew a walk ahead of back-to-back RBI singles from Plunkett and Briley Easton to increase the lead to 10-0 before the Cavs took the first two outs of the inning. However, an error allowed Pelham to increase the lead to 11-0.

John Carroll got on the board in the top of the fourth thanks to a run off an attempted double play. That play only produced the second out and gave way to a double and a pair of runs off an error. The Cavs would then draw a walk ahead of an RBI single that cut the deficit to 11-4.

The Panthers wouldn’t score in the bottom of the fourth, but they held John Carroll scoreless in the top of the fifth to give them a chance to put the game away in the bottom of the inning.

After a pair of singles to start the inning, Bella Lee added another single to plate a run for the 12-4 lead. Roy then reached off an error to bring Eva Lee home and give Braylee Cain a chance to finish the run-rule win.

Pinch-hitting for Stewart, she did just that by hitting into a sacrifice fly that brought Bella Lee home from third and sealed the 14-4 win.

Howard was 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and three runs, Plunkett finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and a run, Bella Lee went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and two runs and Roy was 2-for-4 with three RBI.

The Panthers are now 10-13 overall and will close out the area regular-season slate with a home game against the Spain Park Jaguars on Tuesday, April 15 at 5 p.m.