Staff photo / Preston Byers Boardman’s Gabi Sferra delivers during Friday’s win vs. Poland at Boardman High School.

BOARDMAN — Since losing its season opener to Lakeview, Boardman had been winning, but according to head coach Fred Mootz, his team had been far from perfect. That is until Friday, when the Spartans put together their best outing of the young year against Poland.

Boardman shut down the Bulldogs, and when at the plate, the Spartans made the most of their chances as they poured on the runs en route to a five-inning, 14-0 win.

“We played a great game,” Mootz said. “All the way around, we were complementary. At the plate, we pitched unbelievable, we played great defense. Just a complete game. We haven’t put it all together in every single game this year, but today, we did do that here. So I’m happy with our performance all the way around.”

Pitcher Gabi Sferra got the Spartans off to a strong start, striking out three of the four batters she faced in the top of the first inning. After her team left two runners stranded in the bottom of the inning, she struck out two more batters, and Addie Rudge threw out a runner attempting to steal second base in the top of the second.

Boardman’s offense then began what would turn out to be a rout.

Jocelynn Torres singled to right field shortly before she advanced to second on a passed ball and then to third on a Lanie Joyce groundball and late throw. That extended the inning and set up Ellie Wymer, who drove the ball to deep left-center field, scoring both Torres and Joyce on a ground-rule double. Mikayla Rivera then doubled down the left-field line to bring Wymer home to go up 3-0.

Poland proved unable to respond in the top of the third. Although Leanna Boccieri singled up the middle, continuing a trend of a single-per-inning, she was left stranded with a pop fly to shortstop for the third out.

“Just a great pitcher,” Bulldogs head coach Jim Serich said of Sferra. “We get a hit – I think we had three hits – and she comes back and gets an out. It’s hard to get anything going when you get one hit and then you get an out. It’s just hard to get going against her.”

The Spartans failed to add to their lead in the bottom of the third, when, despite a leadoff single and a hit-by-pitch, Poland sniffed out an attempt to steal home after a throw to second base, resulting in an inning-ending play at the plate.

Boardman had no such issue the following inning.

After another dominant half-inning in the circle from Sferra, Joyce took a pitch to the elbow to become the first of many Spartan runners on base in the fourth and force a pitching change from the Bulldogs, who inserted freshman Ali Blinsky in place of sophomore Madison Medvec.

After the change, Wymer drew a walk, and Rivera singled to shallow center field to drive in Joyce. Rudge then singled through the left part of the infield to load the bases, which allowed Wymer to score during the next at-bat on a hard-hit single to short by Addie Kowacich.

Three more Spartans scored soon thereafter when Kate Thames singled to shallow right field. The first two, Rivera and Rudge, did so as a result of the hit, while Kowacich raced home after Poland, while trying to throw out Kowacich at third, committed an error.

Torres made it 10-0 with a triple before Joyce, in her second at-bat of the inning, singled to bring home Torres. Wymer then hit an RBI single to score Joyce, and with the final hit of the game, Rudge tripled to right field, scoring both Wymer and Rivera, to increase the Spartans’ fourth-inning run total to 11 and their lead to 14.

“Sometimes, it’s just that next go-around in the lineup. And then they changed pitchers there, and we got a different look,” Mootz said. “But like I said, it’s really just having the confidence. When the top of the order sets the stage for the rest of the lineup, it’s contagious. Hitting is extremely contagious, and they showed that in that inning. Not only hitting the ball, they ran the bases very well. We work on that so much, running the bases, being aggressive on the bases, and it showed in that inning. I just told them, ‘You guys put up 14 runs. In a game like that, I don’t have to do much coaching.'”

Sferra, who allowed just three hits and one walk, earned her eighth, ninth and 10th strikeout of the game to close out the 14-0 win.

For Poland, Medvec earned the loss. She and Blinsky combined for five strikeouts, 15 hits, 14 runs and one walk allowed.

“There’s so much upside to them,” Serich said. “We made that one mistake in the third inning, and they scored three unearned runs. They’re learning, they’re learning on the fly.”

That is a major theme for the Bulldogs, who are without key players Elliana Thompson and Lillian McDonald for the year due to injury.

“We’re trying to work through some things,” Serich said. “We got some young players in new positions. We just want to build off of this and get better.”