MINERSVILLE - With the way Minersville senior Riley Gerenda was pitching, it might not have mattered how the wind was blowing Wednesday at Ken Schneck Field.
But while Gerenda was handcuffing visiting Marian on three hits and tossing 16 strikeouts, the wind was blowing out on a field with no fence, tempting hitters such as freshman Adrienne Kroznuskie to send fly balls deep.
Led by Kroznuskie's two home runs, Minersville did just that with four homers finding gaps between Marian outfielders as the Battlin' Miners took a 9-1 Schuylkill League Division II-III crossover victory over the visiting Fillies.
"It's really tempting," Kroznuskie said about the open spaces. "It makes you just want to swing harder, but you've got to make sure you keep your composure up at the plate. It gets scary out there when you have two strikes and an open field, but keep your head on it."
Following a first-inning single, after which she stole second base and scored on fellow freshman Emily Mealey's base hit, Kroznuskie slammed a one-strike pitch from Marian hurler Bethany Shaud into the left-center gap in the fifth for a leadoff home run. She then followed with a two-out home run on a 1-0 count in the sixth.
That was the third of the Battlin' Miners' four homers, all hit in the fifth and sixth frames. Morgen Woodford also found the left-center gap for a solo home run in the fifth and Mealey, who matched Kroznuskie's three hits in the game, made it back-to-back solo shots in the sixth to produce the final score.
"You have to play way back with the power that we have," Minersville coach Dave Homa said. "You've got to give us something if you're going to play deep, and you better be able to cut the gaps off."
That was a problem for Marian (8-2, 4-2 D-III), which suffered its second loss in the past three games after opening the season with a seven-game winning streak.
"If you do sting one and hit one into the gap, it does turn into a home run, basically," Marian head coach Joe DeAngelo said.
Minersville (7-1, 5-1 D-II) got its first run in a more conventional fashion as Mealey's single plated Kroznuskie. Mealey advanced on a passed ball and took third when the catcher's throw to second base rolled into center field. She scored on Woodford's groundout.
Those two runs were more than enough for Gerenda, who struck out nine of the first 11 batters.
Marian then struck suddenly. Bryianna Pearson's line drive bounced in front of the Minersville center fielder and then past her, allowing Pearson to circle the bases and halve Marian's deficit to 2-1.
But Gerenda settled down, allowing only singles by Ashton Galasso and Gabby Cann afterward while piling up seven more strikeouts, including the side in two innings.
"We just didn't catch up to her, except for a few good at-bats," DeAngelo said.
Homa said the game was one of Gerenda's better performances.
"Her ball was moving all over the place today," Homa said. "We just stuck the finger down No. 1. We just threw fastballs and mixed in a change-up. She was very good in the strike zone."
That was plenty of help for a Minersville offense dominated by freshmen.
"They're going through a learning process like everyone else, but they have some talent," Homa said of his young team.