Bucs don’t stop in semifinals, top North Catholic
Chartiers-Houston catcher Kayla Alderson congratulates pitcher Kaitlyn Dittrich as Kayla Elliott runs in to join the celebration after a 3-1 victory against Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Wednesday in the WPIAL Class A semifinals.
Chartiers-Houston pinch runner Macie Shober scores in front of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic catcher Sophia Wiest during Wednesday’s game.
PITTSBURGH – It’s no secret what the strengths are for Chartiers-Houston’s softball team. The Bucs use effective pitching, strong defense and speed to force opponents into mistakes.
With a roster of 11 players who aren’t over-the-fence hitters, Chartiers-Houston utilizes a lot of small ball. That’s why head coach Tricia Alderson makes her players work on situational baserunning at the tailend of almost every practice.
Every player – starter or reserve – knows how to execute a run down, delayed steals and how to take a proper lead.
It paid off Wednesday afternoon.
Chartiers-Houston scored one run on a double steal and another by pressuring North Catholic into a throwing error to help the Bucs clinch a 3-1 win in a WPIAL Class A semifinal game at Baldwin High School, sending them into next week’s championship game.
The Bucs (14-7), who entered the postseason as the seventh seed, will try to win the program’s ninth WPIAL title when they face Section 1-A rival and the top seeded, West Greene, next Thursday at California University’s Lilley Field.
“Everyone kind of forgot about us,” Alderson said. “We just kind of did our thing and played a really tough schedule that’s helping us now in these playoff games. Someone else can have the target on their back for once.”
Chartiers-Houston’s second consecutive trip to the title game was made possible by sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Dittrich and a two-run third inning.
Dittrich allowed just three hits – all on groundballs – limiting North Catholic (15-5 ) to one run.
And the Bucs generated just enough offense to make things work.
With Char-Houston already leading 1-0, left fielder Kayla Elliot reached on an error to start the bottom of the third and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before junior center fielder Brittany Blumen reached on a slap bunt to the shortstop.
On a delayed steal, Blumen dashed toward second base, drawing a throw from North Catholic catcher Sophia Wiest, and Elliot immediately ran home. Blumen was safe at second and Elliot slid under the tag at home plate to make it 2-0. The Bucs stole five bases, including three in the third inning.
After North Catholic got the second out of the inning, junior catcher Kayla Alderson delivered an RBI single to left for the three-run lead.
“It’s really important for us to practice the small things,” Blumen said. “A lot of people doubt us because we have 11 girls, but we all like to prove everybody wrong.”
Dittrich took care of the rest. Mixing a drop curveball and a screwball, the right-handed starter retired 14 of 16 batters from the middle of the first inning through the fifth inning.
North Catholic, which will face Monessen in a third-place game Tuesday at a site and time to be determined, got its only run in the sixth inning when Bridgette Hudson led off with a single and scored when Adrienne Derzak was caught in a rundown between first and second.
The Trojans had a runner on first with two outs in the seventh inning, but Dittrich got a ground out to clinch the win.
Chartiers-Houston put pressure on North Catholic in the second inning when Dittrich hit a leadoff double. After Derzak, who allowed only four hits, got a fly out, pinch runner Macie Shober stole third and Wiest’s throw was dropped. As the ball rolled into foul territory, Shober scored easily for the 1-0 lead.
“We wanted to try to be aggressive,” Tricia Alderson said. “If we got people on, we wanted to get them in motion and hopefully try to make them make some mistakes.”
Despite being one of the top programs in the WPIAL, reaching the playoffs in all 13 years under Alderson, the Bucs were an afterthought after losing five starters from a strong senior class last year.
Now, they’re headed back to the title game.
“It’s such a great feeling. Last year we did it, but we lost so many seniors that everyone doubted us,” Dittrich said. “It’s nice to get back there.”