Jun 1, 2015 3 min read

STATE COLLEGE – One bad inning brought Chartiers-Houston High School’s softball season to an end Monday afternoon.

The Bucs gave up five runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 5-2 loss to West Branch in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs at Penn State University.

The Bucs, runners-up in District 7 to Jefferson-Morgan, finished the season with a 19-4 record, but on a two-game losing streak.

West Branch, the District 6 champion thanks to a 4-2 victory over Conemaugh Valley last week, extended its winning streak to 22 in a row. West Branch will take on the winner of the game between Elk County Catholic and Hope For Hyndman. That game was originally scheduled for Monday, but rain postponed it until today.

Chartiers-Houston starter Kaitlyn Dittrich was locked in a duel with West Branch’s Morgan Rackish as neither allowed a run until the fateful fifth inning.

“It was really disappointing,” said Tricia Alderson, Chartiers-Houston’s head coach. “I don’t know what happened.”

Left fielder Kayleigh MacTavish, one of four freshmen in the Warriors’ starting lineup, began the uprising with a one-out single. She stole second base and moved to third on one of two Chartiers-Houston errors in the game. This one came on a grounder to third by third baseman Dani Zelenky.

Leadoff hitter Skylar Ceprish loaded the bases with a single before Dittrich issued her only walk of the game, to catcher Stasia Laterzo, to make it 1-0. First baseman Rachel Myers drove in two more runs with a single to right field and, one out later, Lizzie Scott made it 5-0 by sending a single to center field that brought home Laterzo and Myers.

Chartiers-Houston nearly got out of the inning when a bunt that could have been a potential double play was ruled foul by the home plate umpire.

“I thought we were out of it,” Alderson said. “But they called it foul. The last two runs of that inning were rough.”

Chartiers-Houston finally reached Rackish in the seventh inning, scoring twice. Center fielder Kassie Kesneck opened the inning with a double and scored one out later when catcher Casey Craig doubled. Second baseman Jessica Blumen drove in Craig with a single, her third hit of the game.

But Rackish managed to get right fielder Kayla Elliot to fly out to center field to end the game.

The Bucs, who had winning streaks of 12 and seven games during the season, threatened to score in the third and fifth innings, but couldn’t get the key hit. In the third, Blumen opened the inning with a single, but was erased on a fielder’s choice on a ground ball hit by Elliott. Jalynn Myers pushed Elliott to second on an error by Scott, but Elliott was forced out at third base on another fielder’s choice and third baseman Sabrina Stankus flew out to end the inning.

In the fifth, Blumen had a one-out single and stole second base. She went to third when the throw by Laterzo went into the outfield. But Rackish got the next two outs.

“If we could have gotten up early, it would be a different game,” Alderson said. “(Rackish) is pitching under a little pressure. Our 1-through-5 hitters went 1-for-15 and that was huge for them. We put the ball in play, but we put the ball in the air. Those are easy outs. (Rackish) was different from the last three pitchers we saw in the playoffs but she was effective.”