Burgettstown takes Ellwood City to limit
SEWICKLEY – Natalia Greco raced home from third base on an infield grounder with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Ellwood City a 2-1 victory Monday over Burgettstown in the Class AA softball quarterfinals at Sewickley Academy.
Burgettstown (15-7) played the top-seeded and undefeated Wolverines (18-0) even for 6 1/2 innings and had the better scoring chances until the final half-inning.
“That says we might have been better than the eight seed,” Burgettstown head coach Mark Deer said. “We knew how good Ellwood City is. I’m proud of my team.”
Pitcher Kate Tarr threw a four-hitter and struck out nine for Burgettstown and was matched in a scoreless pitchers’ duel with Ellwood City’s Skyla Greco for six innings.
Burgettstown struck first in the top of the sixth, getting a spark from Jordan Cullison, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup. Cullison led off with a single, advanced on wild pitch and moved to third on Cassie Carnes’ sacrifice bunt. Another wild pitch, this one high off the catcher’s glove, allowed Cullison to race home and score the game’s first run on a close play at the plate.
Ellwood City, which has won nine games by the 10-run rule, answered in the bottom of the sixth.
Just like Burgettstown, it was the No. 9 batter who got things going. Brooklyn Magill singled up the middle, was bunted to second and moved to third on a one-out single. Magill made the score 1-1 when she scored on Ariana Garroway’s groundout to second base.
The Blue Devils had three consecutive two-out singles in the seventh inning but they didn’t produce a run as the inning ended with a runner thrown out at home plate.
“We had opportunities to put the game away and didn’t capitalize,” Deer said. “You don’t get many against an undefeated team, so you have to score when you get them.”
Natalia Greco began the bottom of the seventh with a walk and raced all the way to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Magill then hit a grounder to shortstop and Greco beat the throw to home plate for game-winning run.
“We have eight seniors and seven start. Those girls are going to be hard to replace,” Deer said. “They set the bar high. But we’ve been consistent, in the playoffs 20 of the last 21 years. Somebody always steps up.”