May 14, 2013 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – When Carly Konopka stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class AAAA first-round softball game against Pine-Richland, the Peters Township sophomore wasn’t exactly lacking for things to think about.

And very few, if any, of them were enjoyable: five walks, a wild pitch and two hit batters as a pitcher, an 0-for-3 day with two strikeouts and a popout to second base at the plate.

Nevertheless, it was Konopka who delivered when her team needed her the most. Konopka crushed a pitch to straightway center field for a walk-off grand slam that gave the seventh-seeded Indians an 8-4 win over No. 10 Pine-Richland at Baldwin High School.

“I started off a little rough, and when I got up there, I was thinking, ‘I need to support my team.’ ” Konopka said. “I saw my pitch and swung.”

Konopka’s swing vaulted Peters Township (17-4) into the quarterfinals, where the Indians will play second-seeded Latrobe next Monday or Tuesday, site and time to be determined.

It also capped a five-run comeback for Peters Township, which trailed 4-3 before shortstop Lindsay McKnight drove in the tying run with a triple to right field in the bottom of the fifth.

“We needed it,” said McKnight, who was 2-for-3 with that triple, a home run, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. “We’re a young team, and I think we needed the confidence. I think it was a good start.”

Kellyn Perich relieved Konopka to start the fifth inning and wound up getting the win after allowing one hit, one walk and striking out five.

Catcher Abby Cunningham had four hits, including two doubles, and scored three runs for Peters Township, which finished second to Canon-McMillan in Section 4-AAAA. Right fielder Viktoria Heiser added two hits and an RBI.

Peters Township swung early and often against Pine-Richland starter Izzy Tortorice, the result of a drop curve that coach Bob Bowers said he wanted his team to avoid. The result was an 11-hit outburst, seven of them for extra bases.

“She had pretty good movement with the drop-curve,” Bowers said. “If she got ahead, it looked like she was going to throw that pitch, and she struck a few batters out with that. I tried not to let the girls get behind on that pitch, and we were jumping on the strikes early.”

Center fielder Maura Kelly gave Pine-Richland a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a ground-rule double that went through the fence in left, scoring shortstop Hannah McNulty.

Peters Township answered when McKnight crushed an outside, first-pitch fastball over the fence in center. McKnight’s home run scored Cunningham, who doubled with one out on a ball that rolled to the fence in left. Heiser doubled in the second inning to make it 3-1.

But Pine-Richland struck for three runs in the fourth, taking advantage of three walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter by Konopka, two of those leading to runs. The other came on an RBI single from Pine-Richland second baseman Stephanie Zentz.

No doubt Konopka was unhappy with her performance, but she didn’t let it affect her. At least not when she came to bat in a key situation, her first playoff victory a swing away.

“She’s a real competitor,” Bowers said. “She’ll win the game for you, just like she did tonight. She’s good for putting up runs, a great player. Her time on the mound wasn’t her best, but we got the job done.”

Peters Township left fielder Meghan Bastyr made an outstanding, shoestring catch for a key out in Pine-Richland’s three-run fourth. … Hannah McNulty led Pine-Richland with two hits and two runs scored. … Bastyr and Cunningham had singles to start the seventh-inning rally.