One bad inning knocks out Lady Tigers
D6 5A softball
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LORETTO -- Central Mountain was in danger of failing to defend the District 6 Class 5A softball championship that it had won last year, after being held hitless and scoreless through four innings in the district title game Wednesday afternoon.
But the Wildcats kept their composure, as Central Mountain coach Fred Caldwell knew that they would.
"Even though we were being no-hit after four innings, there were no heads hanging on our team,'' Caldwell said. "I have been impressed with our resiliency as a team. Hitting is contagious, and once we got one runner on base, that kind of sparked everybody else.''
Top-seeded Central Mountain bunched six hits to score seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, wiping out a 1-0 deficit and rallying for a 7-1 win over second-seeded Hollidaysburg in the district championship game that was played on the Saint Francis University softball field.
The victory earned Central Mountain its second consecutive District 6 Class 5A title and pushes the Lady Wildcats into a PIAA District 6-8-9 subregional playoff game next Tuesday at a site and time, and against an opponent, to be determined.
Central Mountain (15-3) sent 10 batters to the plate in the big fifth inning.
Hollidaysburg junior right-handed pitcher Maria Malone -- who Caldwell saluted for an outstanding effort -- retired 12 of the first 13 Central Mountain batters that she faced over the first four innings before the Lady Wildcats broke through in the fifth.
A one-out single by senior right fielder Kelsey Burrows started the rally, before senior catcher Gracie Saar executed a well-placed bunt between the pitcher's mound and third base for a single, moving Burrows to second.
Sophie Mitchell was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out, and Taylor Wahlers followed with an infield single that featured plenty of top-spin, scoring Burrows to tie the game and keep the bases jammed.
Olivia Vincent was brought in to replace Malone on the mound, and induced Katelyn Bowman to ground into a forceout at home plate.
But junior center fielder Madisyn Wian followed with the game's biggest hit -- a three-run double to the left-center field gap that emptied the bases, scoring Mitchell, Wahlers and Bowman -- and giving Central Mountain a 4-1 lead.
"I had two strikes on me, and I was thinking that something big was going to happen,'' Wian said. "I got a fast ball right down the middle, and I hit it.''
Junior Madison Hardy followed with another double to score Wian, and junior Harley Kunes drew a walk. Both freshman Cirstyn Watson -- inserted as a courtesy runner for Hardy -- and Kunes proceeded to score when senior Allison Lininger dumped a single to short right field to cap off the seven-run inning.
"It's tough,'' said Hollidaysburg coach Heather Perry, whose team wrapped up a 13-8 season. "I'm really proud of how our players fought the whole way. We know that Central Mountain has a strong team that has good hitters and is well-coached, but our players never gave up and never gave in.
"We just let one inning get away from us, and one inning can change a game,'' Perry added.
It did on Wednesday, as Central Mountain junior right-handed pitcher Adalynn McKeague tossed a complete-game two-hit victory, striking out nine batters and walking none.
Hollidaysburg junior catcher Sydney Shay drilled a solo homer to left field in the fourth inning, but that was all the scoring that the Lady Tigers could muster against McKeague.
"Everything was good,'' McKeague said. "My entire goal was just to get it done on the mound out there. I knew that our bats were going to back me up.''
Hollidaysburg graduates five seniors but has a solid nucleus returning next spring to build upon this year's performance.
"We're losing the five seniors, but we will have a lot of great leaders to follow in their footsteps,'' Perry said.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (1): Vincent 3b-p 300, Chandler 3b 100, Dawson ss 300, Shay c 311, Steiner 2b 300, Malone p 200, Musselman 1b 200, Vincent cf 200, Knab lf 200, Alexy rf 201. Totals - 23-1-2.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (7): Bowman 3b 210, Wian cf 311, Hardy 1b 301, Watson cf 010, Kunes ss 210, Lininger dh 301, Burrows rf 311, Saar c 301, Peters cr 000, Mitchell lf 210, Wahlers 2b 211, McKeague p 000. Totals - 23-7-6.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Hollidaysburg 000 100 0--1 2 0
Central Mountain 000 070 X--7 6 0
2B--Wian, Hardy. HR--Shay. RBI--Shay, Wian 3, Lininger 2, Hardy, Wahlers. HBP--Mitchell (by Malone). LOB--Central Mountain 1, Hollidaysburg 0.
PITCHING
Hollidaysburg: Malone (L) 4+IP, 3H, 4R, 1BB, 7S0; Vincent 2IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 1SO.
Central Mountain: McKeague (W) 7IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 9SO.
Records: Hollidaysburg (13-8), Central Mountain (15-3).
Umpires: Mike McDermott (plate); Bruce Legros (first base); Tony Olsavsky (second base), Tom Patterson (third base).
Time of game: 1:38.