West Greene scratches out win over Saegertown
West Greene’s catcher Shelby Morris tags Saegertown’s Haley Hess in the PIAA Class A softball quaterfinals playoffs at Slippery Rock University Thursday.
West Greene’s Lexie Moodwin hits a line drive in the PIAA Class A softball quaterfinals playoffs against Saegertown at Slippery Rock University Thursday.
SLIPPERY ROCK – Going into Thursday afternoon’s PIAA Class A quarterfinal softball game against Saegertown, West Greene had accumulated 113 extra-base hits, including 31 home runs, over 25 games.
The Pioneers added just one more extra-base hit to that total against the Panthers, but showed they’re more than capable of winning in a variety of ways by defeating Saegertown, 4-1, at Slippery Rock University.
The victory moves the Pioneers into some heady territory as they advanced to Monday’s semifinals against unbeaten DuBois Central Catholic (23-0) at a site and time to be determined.
It marks the farthest a West Greene team has advanced in the state playoffs in any sport, surpassing the 1983 softball team, which won its opening game of the PIAA playoffs before falling in the second round. With one more victory, the Pioneers will be the first Greene County team since Carmichaels baseball in 2008 to advance to the state finals.
But first, West Greene (25-1) had to get past a scrappy Saegertown team.
Panthers pitcher Courtney Hess showed plenty of moxie pitching out of some tough spots without much damage as West Greene nursed a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI single by leadoff hitter McKenna Lampe and a wild pitch that plated two runs in the second.
“We can hit,” said McKenna Lampe, who was 3-for-3 with a walk. “But we can play defense, pick each other up when we need to. That always helps.”
They showed off their glove work in the fourth and fifth innings.
Becca Siple opened the fourth for Saegertown (16-9) with a single up the middle for just the second hit of the game off West Greene pitcher Madison Renner.
Haley Hess walked, and after both runners moved up on a slow infield grounder for the first out, Courtney Hess laid down a bunt that the Pioneers failed to handle at first, allowing Saegertown to score its first run, trimming West Greene’s lead to 2-1.
Saegertown coach Mark McKissock called for another bunt from the next batter, Haley Wise. The Pioneers played it perfectly this time, with Renner fielding the ball, firing to first where second baseman Kaitlyn Rizor recorded the out then threw home to catcher Shelby Morris, who applied the tag on Haley Hess for the rare 1-4-2 double play.
Saegertown threatened again in the top of the fifth, when Taylor Schultz was hit by a pitch and leadoff hitter Maile Chang singled to put Panthers on first and second with two outs.
Becca Siple hit a sharp single to center field and McKenna Lampe fielded the ball cleanly and came up firing to the plate, stopping Schultz in her tracks halfway between third and home.
Hess then grounded out to Madison Lampe at third for an unassisted out to end the threat.
“We practice all the time; we want to be glove to gone. You have to be up clean and gone clean,” said West Greene head coach Bill Simms. “As long as we can keep the throw down, it freezes a lot of runners, which is what we did. Then we got the force out.”
McKenna Lampe was ticked that Schultz didn’t continue home – at least until her twin sister snagged Hess’ hot shot.
“As soon as it was coming toward me, I could see her rounding the bag and I knew I had to go home,” McKenna Lampe said. “When I threw it, I was like, shoot, she stopped, so we didn’t get the out. But it stopped her.”
That was all the help Renner needed.
She threw a four-hitter with five strikeouts and one walk. She did not allow a runner in the final two innings to close things out.
Renner also provided the Pioneers with a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after McKenna Lampe walked to open the inning and Madison Lampe followed with a single to center, advancing to second on the throw home.
Renner, who had the game’s lone extra base hit, a leadoff double in the third inning that failed to result in a run, laced a two-run single to center to make it 4-1.
“We don’t care if we win 15-0 in three or 1-0 in 42 innings,” said Simms. “We’d travel to Canada as long as we can get a win.”
The close contest was a rare result for the Pioneers, who have outscored their opponents by seven runs or more in 20 of their 26 games, thanks mostly to a power-packed lineup.
But, as Simms said, he’ll take the win, no matter how it comes.
In fact, he enjoyed Thursday’s win more than most of West Greene’s other victories this season, even though the Pioneers didn’t have their usual scoring output.
“Although my blood pressure wouldn’t agree, this kind of game is a more fun game to play in than when we blow people out,” Simms said. “These are the fun ones. Every play matters. You have to have girls making plays. It’s nice to have a battle test.”