After falling behind early in last Monday's Catholic Academies softball contest, Mount St. Joseph went ahead by four runs and then survived a rally by visiting Villa Maria to win 10-8.

Junior pitcher Daria Yohe went the distance in the circle for the victory, striking out two batters while giving up two walks and 13 hits. The softball took a beating as the Mount Magic belted 14 hits of their own.

That outcome left Mount St. Joe with a 9-2 record overall and a 4-1 record within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies. In their two outings against Inter-Ac League teams, the Magic defeated Germantown Academy, 19-4, and beat Penn Charter, 28-8.

The Mount's Yohe grew stronger in the middle innings of last Tuesday's league game, but at the start Villa batters made a lot of contact. The Hurricanes began the game with a triple to left field, then went on to hit two doubles and a single, netting a total of three runs.

Mount St. Joe batters went down in order in the bottom of the first, and neither team scored in the second inning.

A solo homer over the fence in left field gave the 'Canes a 4-0 lead at the top of the third frame, but their advantage vanished in the bottom half. MSJ sophomore Leah Hartzell led off and got on base when a ball she hit up the middle glanced off Villa pitcher Laura Charles. Hartzell reached third thanks to a double deep to left field by Cat Gillespie, a freshman out of St. Philip Neri School.

The runners stayed put while the next batter struck out. Both of them scored on the next play, though, as junior Emily Markowski singled down the right field line to second as Villa was slow to pick up the ball. Junior Kaitlyn Cockerham singled to the left side, then senior Charlotte Gale sent a base hit up the middle for an RBI that made it 4-3.

Gale, the Mount's catcher, will continue her softball career at Roanoke College.

Next, a passed ball allowed the Magic baserunners to move ahead to second and third. The batter, senior Jewel Schaefer (who'll play golf at La Salle University), hit a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the contest at 4-4.

Mount St. Joe miscues in the top of the fourth allowed Villa to edge ahead once more, 5-4. The Magic started the home half with two strikeouts, but Gillespie doubled to center. Her ball hit the tape at the top of the fence, but did not go over. The freshman proceeded to steal third and came home with the tying run thanks to a wild pitch.

The batter, junior Madison Press, drew a walk and moved to second when Markowski singled through the left side of the infield. The runners went to second and third on a wild pitch, but that became a moot point when Cockerham cleared the bags with a three-run homer over the left field fence.

Late in the third inning, Villa Maria replaced Charles with Liv DeMaio in the circle, but late in the fourth Charles returned to get the Hurricanes out of the inning without further damage. Still, the Mounties now led 8-5. That score was still on the board after the fifth inning, and both teams went down one-two-three.

The visitors scored a run on a sacrifice fly at the top of the sixth, trimming the Mount's lead to 8-6. In the bottom of the frame the Magic scored twice, and it turned out they'd definitely need one of those runs.

With two outs, the Mount had Press on base with a single to shallow centerfield. Cockerham and Gale each drew a walk to loade the bases, and two runs came home on a line-drive hit over second base by Shaefer. A strike-out ended the inning, and now the Magic had a four-run lead (10-6), needing three outs to end the game.

In the seventh, the Hurricanes got their lead-off hitter to second base thanks to an infield error. Back-to-back singles scored a run, then a third consecutive single, this one to right field, loaded the bases. The Mounties needed an out, and on a grounder to second baseman Hartzell they opted for a force-out at second while another Villa run scored, making it 10-8.

Next, Gillespie tracked a very high pop-up at shortstop. When it hit her glove, she couldn't hold it, but had the presence of mind to quickly pick the ball up and tag out Villa's lead runner as she tried to scramble back to third base. A routine 4-3 ground-out ended the game.