Big Macs repeat as WPIAL champs
CALIFORNIA – Canon-McMillan junior Giorgiana Zeremenko has crushed plenty of home runs throughout her softball career, the majority hit harder and farther than Thursday night’s blast against North Allegheny.
Few of them, however, have been more pivotal.
Or more memorable.
Zeremenko’s three-run shot in the top of the fourth inning keyed a 5-2 win for top-seeded Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game at California University’s Lilley Field, helping the Big Macs become back-to-back champs.
As Zeremenko rounded third base, she let out a celebratory scream, pumped her fist and jumped on home plate, joined shortly thereafter by her teammates – “Boom,” they screamed in unison.
“I actually didn’t think it was going to go over,” Zeremenko said of a ball that a fan had handed back to North Allegheny’s left fielder before Zeremenko touched home. “But then it carried and everybody started screaming. I looked up and was like, ‘OK. That works.'”
Sure did.
And talk about surreal: In Canon’s Mac’s 4-1 win over Hempfield a season ago, third baseman Olivia Lorusso hit a three-run homer – in the fourth inning.
This year, it was Zeremenko’s turn.
“More than deflating us, I think it inflated them,” North Allegheny head coach Rick Meister said. “I think they fed off of that one, as you would expect them to do. It was a great shot by her.
“We knew who she was. We knew she could do that. It was not a surprise.”
Zeremenko, who battled shoulder trouble earlier in the year, finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and and scored a run. Right fielder Abby McCartney had two hits and scored a pair of runs.
Pitcher Alayna Astuto continued her fantastic postseason by allowing two runs – her first in three games – on four hits. She struck out a playoff-best nine to bring her postseason total to 24 in three games.
“I’m just working and hitting my spots, listening to my coaches,” Astuto said.
Zeremenko’s homer was even more impressive because it came with two outs. After a pair of flyouts, McCartney singled into shallow right center, her first hit of the postseason, and Lorusso was hit on the knee with a pitch.
No need to run, though. Zeremenko took care of that.
“She gave me a similar sequence my first at-bat, and I was just looking for that one pitch,” Zeremenko said. “She gave it to me, and I was able to drive it.”
Canon-McMillan added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Shortstop Linda Rush singled to lead off, and McCartney scored her with a triple that she roped into right center. Zeremenko followed with an RBI single into left.
North Allegheny jumped ahead early when shortstop Christine Scherer singled to score center fielder Laura Cotter in the top of the first.
The Tigers struck again by loading the bases and getting a run on Pierson’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. But Astuto wiggled out of the jam and McCartney ended the inning with a spectacular diving catch in right.
“Abby made several great catches out there for us tonight,” Big Macs head coach Michele Moeller said.
Center fielder Yaszmin Kotar recorded the final out, taking a couple of steps back and to her left.
That opened the gates for a community-wide celebration in the infield, one that felt different in a way but still had the same ending.
“We’re definitely stronger this year with hitting and fielding,” McCartney said. “I feel like there was more motivation to make sure that we can repeat this year.”
Canon-McMillan will play Hempfield – the Big Macs’ semifinal opponent and the only team to beat them this season – in the PIAA playoffs Monday. … Scherer had two hits for North Allegheny (17-5). … Moeller, predicting Lorusso would homer, wasn’t worried when she was hit by a pitch. “She said, ‘Don’t worry. G’s going to take care of it.’ ” Moeller explained. “I said, ‘Alright.’ Sure enough, Giorgiana put that one over the fence.”