May 16, 2016 4 min read

WEXFORD – Like a pesky fly at a summer picnic, Fox Chapel High School’s softball team spent the first four innings buzzing Canon-McMillan, threatening to take control of the first-round game in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

It was not until the Foxes nearly tied the game in the third inning that the Big Macs rose up and swat them down by scoring six runs over the fifth and sixth innings to come away with a 9-2 victory at North Allegheny High School.

The fifth-seeded Big Macs, co-champions of Section 4, moved their record to 16-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals against North Allegheny, which disposed of 13th-seeded Gateway, 7-3, yesterday. North Allegheny received the fourth seed.

Fox Chapel, which finished tied for second in Section 2, saw its season end with a 12-8 record.

Linda Rush, a senior shortstop headed to Drexel University next fall, went 4-for-4, scored four runs and cracked her 13th home run of the season – a solo blast in a two-run fifth inning, pacing a 13-hit attack.

“I was seeing the ball pretty well and since it was a 2-0 count, I knew she was going to put something close,” said Rush, who has walked 24 times this season as teams normally pitch around her. “I felt it hit the sweet spot of the bat. It was important to get those runs because it could have been the other way.”

Third baseman Kirsten Rush went 3-for-4 with three RBI, driving in one of Canon-McMillan’s four runs in the sixth inning with a double to left field. But her most important play might have come in the fourth inning, when Fox Chapel nearly tied the game. Holding a 3-1 lead at the beginning of the inning, Canon-McMillan scrambled to hold off Fox Chapel’s last-gasp effort to gain control.

Emma Humes began the inning by getting on via a Linda Rush error and moved to second base on a two-out single by Gretchen Angerman. Alyssa Guzzie then launched a shot to the fence in left field. Kayla Hopkins retrieved the ball as Humes scored, fired a strike to Kirsten Rush, who twirled and threw another strike to catcher Julia Ciotti, who made a pitcher-perfect tag on Angerman for the third out of the inning.

“When my back was to (the plate), I didn’t know how far down the line she was,” said Kirsten Rush. “When I saw she was more than a couple steps (away), I was confident in my throw. It was really important to the game. If we let them get that run and tie it, the game would be closer than we thought it would be. I felt the energy definitely rise for us when we got her out.”

“We had some nice defensive plays,” said C-M head coach Michele Moeller. “We had a big play at home and tracked down some balls. We always say, ‘Win the inning.’ So if they get a run, we need to get either a run or try to beat them. They put some pressure on us, they put some people on base and we made some great defensive plays.”

That was the Foxes’ final chance as the Big Macs scored twice in the fifth and four times more in the sixth to take a seven-run lead. The big hit in the sixth was a two-run single by Brittney Crawford.

“It’s good to see (Zmenkowski) the first few innings so you know where she pitches and know when not to swing,” said Kirsten Rush.

Fox Chapel starter Callie Zmenkowski allowed two runs in the first inning on an RBI groundout by Katelyn Greaves and a single by Kirsten Rush. Back-to-back doubles by catcher Sam Olbrich and Zmenkwoski cut Canon-McMillan’s lead to 2-1. But the Big Macs got it back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-double by Kirsten Rush.

Meanwhile, C-M starter Abbi Michelucci wiggled out of jams most of the game. Fox Chapel left two runners on base in three innings apiece and had nine for the game. But she retired the final five batters, two on strikeouts.