Jun 10, 2021 2 min read

NEWVILLE – Abby Allen couldn’t have picked a better time for her first hit during the PIAA softball playoffs.

Or deliver a more dramatic hit.

Allen hit a two-run walk-off home run to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Canon-McMillan a stunning 5-3 victory over Neshaminy in the Class 6A quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Big Spring High School.

Neshaminy (19-7) was the runner-up from District 1.

The win sends Canon-McMillan (11-10) into the semifinals Monday against North Penn, the fifth-place finisher from District 1.

The Big Macs had to come from behind twice in the game. Neshaminy led 2-1 before Canon-McMillan tied it with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The score remained 2-2 until the top of the 10th, which began the international tiebreaker as a runner started each half inning at second base. Neshaminy took a 3-2 lead when Kylie Siwek clubbed a two-out double that scored the ITB baserunner.

Canon-McMillan, however, refused to fold. Sami Merkle, who began the bottom of the 10th at second base, scored the tying run when Taylor Eckles’ bunt was thrown wild for an error by the Neshaminy catcher.

Allen was the next batter and, after fouling off one 3-2 pitch, launched her game-winning home run that cleared the left-field fence by at least six feet, leaving no doubt.

For Canon-McMillan, this trip to the PIAA quarterfinals brought back memories of 2013, when the Big Macs won the state championship. They defeated Neshaminy in extra innings, on a home run by Linda Rush, in the title game.

Canon-McMillan outhit Neshaminy 7-5. Grace Higgins was the lone Big Macs player with more than one hit. She went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs. She scored the tying run in the fifth on an RBI hit by Eckles.

The Big Macs’ first run came in the third inning when Higgins scored on a single to center field by Elika Mowery.

Brooke Perri was the winning pitcher, throwing six innings in relief. She allowed one unearned run, did not walk a batter and struck out six.