May 10, 2016 5 min read

HOOKSTOWN – The ups and downs of this rivalry took another unexpected turn Tuesday afternoon.

Burgettstown’s softball team, hoping to put itself into position to win the Section 2-AA title, needed a victory over rival South Side Beaver to do so.

Last month, the Blue Devils fell behind in the top of the sixth inning, then exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning for a dramatic victory.

South Side Beaver drew its revenge yesterday, when third baseman Toni Yocoviello laced a solid single to right field with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Mackenzie Smith with the winning run in a 2-1 victory.

The Blue Devils had rallied to tie the score, 1-1, in the previous inning and appeared ready to again snatch a late-inning win from the Rams.

“It’s a big rivalry. All the kids know each other,” said Burgettstown head coach Mark Deer. “Some of their kids played for us in the summer a couple years ago so we know them and they know us.”

Qualifying for the playoffs was not at stake in this game – both teams are in – but the Blue Devils (10-2, 14-6) needed a win, coupled with a loss by Avonworth to Freedom, to win the section outright. Avonworth finished first in the section, thanks to a victory over Freedom last night. This will be Burgettstown’s 20th appearance in the playoffs in Deer’s 21 years as head coach.

South Side Beaver (9-3, 12-3) could not improve its playoff standing, locked behind the top two teams no matter what, but this was a game that the Rams will cherish for a number of reasons.

“It’s always tough playing them,” said South Side Beaver head coach Amy Pieto. “They are such a good team. We came out, had a good showing and came out on top.”

Katie Tarr, a senior for Burgettstown who is headed to Point Park in the fall, matched South Side Beaver starter Mackenzie Smith zero for zero until the bottom of the sixth.

With Connor McGaffic, a Pitt recruit and one of the better power hits in the WPIAL, due to lead off, Deer told catcher Nia Winters to tell Tarr not to offer any good pitches. McGaffic worked the count to 3-1 when Tarr left a fastball too close to the plate and the right-handed hitter launched a home run over the right-field fence to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

“I don’t know how many home runs she has off the top of my head,” Pieto said. “She has been pitched around a lot.”

But Burgettstown clawed back, grinding out a run in the top of the seventh when Paige Sherman singled to right field and courtesy runner Taylor Cullison was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Hannah Abbott. Winters then whacked a liner to right field that went for a double and scored Cullison.

South Side Beaver, which has won seven of the last eight games, got four of its nine hits in the bottom of the eighth inning. Reagan Huzak sent a single to left field and tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out by Tori Carnes. Smith followed with a single to center and moved to second on a bloop single to right by McGaffic. Hunter Hands hit into a fielder’s choice that erased McGaffic but moved Smith to third base. Yacoviello followed with the game-winning hit.

“It was good to get the hits,” said Pieto, who has the Rams in the playoffs for a second straight season after taking over two years ago. “That was good to see. We have a lot of good hitters so I was hopeful we could come back from those missteps.”

Burgettstown’s defense stopped South Side Beaver from scoring a run in the second and another in fifth. Winters made two outstanding defensive plays, snagging a line drive by Yacoviello and making a nice pickup on a ball hit by Lena Pieto, the head coach’s daughter, to end the second and stranding Rachael Pieto, Lena’s sister, on second base.

In the fifth, Lacy Weible beat out an infield single and moved to third on a stolen base and another infield single by leadoff hitter Capri Sollinger. Huzak then bounced one back to Tarr, who turned and faked the throw to first and whirled back to third, where Weible had started for home. A four-throw rundown ended with Weible being tagged out at home.

Tarr finished with three strikeouts and a walk. Smith struck out eight and allowed just five hits.

“I thought we had to stay away from the strikeouts, Katie had to get strikeouts and we had to hit the ball,” Deer said. “Our hitting let us down a bit.

“I told our coaches (before the game) that win or lose (against South Side), we’re going to be either a seven or eight seed. It doesn’t matter that much. We still have to play everybody.”