Coach happy to have Shay, Malone with Lady Tigers
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Hollidaysburg celebrated its senior night in fashion with a 5-3 victory over Central Tuesday afternoon in high school softball action.
Seniors Maria Malone and Sydney Shay certainly made their mark as they have for the past four seasons for the Lady Tigers.
Malone pitched five shutout innings and struck out 10 batters and singled home Shay after she doubled with two outs in the first inning. Shay, who catches for Malone, added another double, and Malone contributed another single in addition to scoring twice in the win.
"Sydney Shay has been my best friend since we were 5," Malone said. "I have played with her for so many years. It's great to see that we stuck it through for our senior year and found so much success."
After Malone brought home the first run of the game, she got Hollidaysburg's two-run third inning started with a single. Maggie Hicks tripled her home, and Hicks later scored on an error.
"When you have seniors like Maria and Sydney Shay, it makes coaching easy," Hollidaysburg coach Mike Harris said. "They are great leaders who do a fantastic job. They have put in a lot of work in the offseason with the travel ball they play, and they do a fantastic job."
Hollidaysburg appeared to have the game in hand leading 5-0 through three innings, but Alexis Fetzer doubled to lead off the Central portion of the fourth inning. Madison Kennedy followed with a walk, but then with one out, Hicks made a running catch, taking complete advantage of her wingspan to rob Ashlyn Renner of an extra-base hit.
Later in the game after the Lady Dragons had plated two runs, Maya Gearhart made a running catch on a sinking line drive hit by Kaylee Kensinger with the bases loaded for the third out, denying Central a chance to get even closer.
"Maya is a freshman and Maggie is a sophomore. They are new kids on the block," Harris said. "They are doing a really good job for us."
Central left seven runners on base over the final four innings.
"We couldn't get a couple big hits when we needed them," Central coach Jonathan Burkett said. "It's not like we didn't have runners on base. I'll give a shoutout to their team. Their outfield played tremendous."
Renner got the Central rally started with a two-run single in the sixth inning. Kennedy added a solo home run in the seventh inning before Bralyn Ellis singled to bring the tying run to the plate.
It was the second close loss in as many days for the Lady Dragons, who lost to Glendale by a run on Monday.
"We didn't start hitting right away," Burkett said. "We needed to start out earlier on the hits, and we didn't start until the third inning. Against Glendale, it was the same way. We have to figure that out and get a better start. We want to continue to grow game after game. I have the players that will make a stance against anybody, but we have to continue to grow and get better at what we are doing."
Despite the slow start, if it had not been for the outstanding outfield plays by Hollidaysburg, the Lady Dragons (3-4) may have still won the game.
"They snagged balls in center. They snagged balls in left," Burkett said. "Those would have made the difference in the game. Whenever they do that, you have to give them kudos."
Hollidaysburg improved to 5-3 and also got a two-run single from Hallee Chandler.
"We were playing really well and had a downer game against Penns Valley, which is pretty good," Harris said. "Bounced back today. I'm proud of these kids. They work hard, and they are very unified and back each other up, which is great to see."
CENTRAL (3): Fetzer 1b 412, Kennedy p 311, Ellis c 311, Renner lf 401, Bechtel dp 200, Rhodes ss 301, Peterson 3b 300, Kensinger cf 300, Britton rf 100, Smith rf 200, Dickson flex-2b 200. Totals -- 28-3-6.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (5): Peacock ss 401, Vincent lf-p 401, Shay c 302, Stevens cr 010, Malone p 322, Good 3b 100, Morris 2b 110, Chandler 1b 301, Hicks cf 311, Lightner rf 300, Gearhart 3b-lf 200. Totals -- 27-5-8.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Central 000 002 1--3 6 3
Hollidaysburg 302 000 X--5 8 1
E--Renner, Dickson, Rhodes, Peacock. 2B--Fetzer. 3B--Hicks. HR--Kennedy. RBI--Renner 2, Kennedy; Chandler 2, Hicks, Malone.
PITCHING
Central: Kennedy (L)–6IP, 8H, 2BB, 1HBP, 5K, 5R, 4ER, 117 pitches.
Hollidaysburg: Malone (W)–5IP, 2H, 1BB, 10K, 0R, 0ER, 81 pitches. Vincent--2IP, 4H, 2BB, 2K, 3R, 3ER, 52 pitches.
Umpires: Dave Adams (HP); Bill Sheehan (bases).
Records: Central (3-4); Hollidaysburg (5-3).