West Greene weathers early storm, takes out Clarion
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter West Greene's pitcher Madison Renner led the Pioneers to a PIAA Class A first-round playoff victory Monday over Clarion.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter West Greene's Jessica Orndoff scores a fifth-inning run Monday as teammate Kaitlyn Rizor rounds third base in a PIAA Class A first-round playoff game against Clarion at California University.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter West Greene's Bailey Bennington attempts to apply a tag on Clarion's Keanna Over at second base Monday during a PIAA Class A first-round playoff game.
CALIFORNIA – Five minutes into its PIAA Class A first-round playoff game against Clarion, the West Greene softball team was in an unfamiliar position – trailing.
Clarion scored two runs in the top of the first inning, marking the first time the Pioneers trailed in a game in this postseason.
The Pioneers first got even. Then, they got mad.
Or perhaps more correctly, Madison.
Madison Lampe and Madison Renner closed out the game with back-to-back home runs to cap a nine-run fifth inning as West Greene advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals with a 12-2 win in five innings at California University’s Lilley Field.
The Pioneers (24-1) will face District 10 champion Saegertown, a 9-5 winner over North Catholic in the first round, Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
Coming off their first WPIAL title last Friday, the Pioneers were dealing with jitters against Clarion.
But they matched Clarion’s two runs in the top of the first inning, thanks to an RBI-triple by Madison Lampe, who was a single shy of hitting for the cycle, and an RBI-groundout by Renner. The Pioneers settled in after that.
“Early in the game, we were all really nervous,” said Renner, who allowed three hits and struck out six. “Then we started and there was like, relief. We still have that goal of winning states. We have to do it one step at a time. We’re not thinking it’s over yet.”
That’s a good thing because Clarion (15-9) gave the Pioneers its best shot.
Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, undermanned Clarion, which was missing two starters because of injuries and lost catcher and No. 3 hitter Johnna Rapp to a sprained ankle in the third inning, trailed only 3-2.
Clarion pitcher Sadie Rudesyle had allowed just three hits in the first four innings and had pitched a 1-2-3 fourth.
But Madison Lampe opened the inning with a double and Renner followed with a high fly ball to deep center that just missed clearing the fence, moving Lampe to third.
After Lampe scored on a passed ball, Bailey Bennington was hit by a pitch and Kaitlyn Rizor and Lexie Mooney both singled to load the bases. Following a strikeout, Mackenzie Carpenter ripped a two-run single and No. 9 hitter Savanah Pettit laced a two-run double to right field. McKenna Lampe followed with an RBI-single and then trotted around to score moments later when Madison Lampe, in her second at-bat of the inning, ripped a two-run homer to left.
With the Pioneers leading 11-2 and needing one run to finish the game, Renner hit a ball to nearly the same spot as in her previous at-bat. This time, it cleared the fence to touch off a West Greene celebration.
“I was not (thinking of a home run),” said Renner. “I was just thinking about getting a base hit.
“I got a little under (the first one). It was a great feeling to end it like that.”
It was much better than the start of the game.
Clarion leadoff batter Keanna Over hit a sharp ball to shortstop that Bennington knocked down and recovered in time to beat Over at first base with the throw. Mooney, however, couldn’t handle the strong throw as Over was safe and moved to second on a one-out walk to Rapp. Over scored on a one-out single by Rudesyle that moved Rapp to third.
The Bobcats then pulled off a double steal, with Rapp beating Bennington’s throw to the plate to make it 2-0 before Renner worked out of the jam with a popup and a strikeout.
“As coaches, we were worried about a a letdown, the after-effect of winning a WPIAL title,” said West Greene coach Bill Simms.
“It was in the girls’ minds, but we have a lot of faith in them.”
That proved to be well-founded as the Pioneers evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the first inning.
“You’d like to come out of the gate a little stronger than we did,” Simms conceded. “The two in the bottom settled us right back down.”
The Pioneers threatened in the second with a hit and two walks, but Mooney was thrown out at third after an overthrow at second on a steal. And in the third inning, they scored just one run – on a single by Renner – despite having runners on second and third with one out.
“I had bunt all over my mind and I let Rizor and Mooney swing at strike one,” Simms said. “They got them both to hit little nubbers and got out of the inning. I thought, ‘Oh boy.’ But we rebounded nicely.”
Nicely enough to move on despite taking Clarion’s best punch.
“We knew West Greene is an explosive team and we knew we had to score some runs,” said Clarion head coach Dan Shofestall. “They’re a well-rounded team. We came out and I thought we did good. We put a couple of runs on the board. We just couldn’t put a lot together after that.”