C-H goes quietly in semifinal loss
IMPERIAL – When the South Side Beaver and Chartiers-Houston softball teams met a little over a month ago, C-H coach Tricia Alderson didn’t think it could get much worse.
In a 12-2 drubbing put on by South Side Beaver, the Bucs’ typically potent offense that averaged more than 12 runs per game in the regular season was limited to only two runs on four hits.
It was worse for the Bucs Tuesday afternoon.
South Side Beaver starting pitcher McKenna Smith made C-H’s four-hit performance last time look generous.
Smith limited the Bucs to only one hit – a single from Kasey Scears in the fourth inning – as No. 1 seed South Side Beaver needed only six innings to defeat Chartiers-Houston, 10-0, in a WPIAL Class AA semifinal game at West Allegheny High School.
South Side Beaver (17-2) advances to the finals to play Frazier, which defeated Seton LaSalle, 6-2.
Chartiers-Houston (16-4), which is assured of a state tournament berth, couldn’t find any rhythm on offense as their five baserunners through six innings – four from walks – failed to score after Smith struck out 10 and got some defensive help from center fielder Rachel Peeto.
Peeto took away two runs in the third inning after tracking fly balls to the centerfield fence. She extended her arms to rob Kayla Alderson of a potential two-run home run, then made an over-the-shoulder running grab to rob the Bucs’ Jessica Ford of extra bases to end the fourth.
“She made two really nice plays,” Alderson said. “We only had one hit. You aren’t going to win many games doing that. It was frustrating but what are you going to do? We struck out too many times and couldn’t get anything going. We just didn’t have it offensively.”
Making matters worse for C-H was it only took two innings for the hit parade to begin for South Side Beaver.
After a Mackenzie Freeman single to begin the bottom of the third inning and Regan Hozak’s line-drive double into the right-centerfield gap put runners at second and third for the Rams, Capri Sollinger broke the scoreless tie with a two-run single up the middle.
South Side Beaver padded its lead as Freeman hammered the first pitch of her next at-bat over the left-field fence for a three-run homer, putting the Rams ahead 5-0 after four innings.
“The one thing we strive for is to make sure that we’re hitting the ball,” South Side Beaver coach Amy Pieto said. “We stress that in all of our practices and games. From the top to the bottom of our lineup, everybody has to be able to hit.”
Despite a double play turned by C-H outfielder Brittany Blumen after she caught a line drive and threw back to first base to double off a Rams runner that broke for second, the unrelenting attack continued for South Side Beaver in the fifth inning. The Rams scored four more runs after eight straight batters reached base, extending their lead to 9-0.
“The hitting makes McKenna more comfortable in the circle, but she is the one that puts us in spots to be comfortable at the plate,” Pieto said about her starting pitcher who has four shutouts in her past five games. She is a very solid pitcher. She always has been.
“You always worry about a team you beat earlier in the season. I was a little nervous but our team as a whole was confident.”
Freeman led the balanced South Side Beaver lineup, which managed to have everyone reach base, by going 3-for-3 with three RBI. Sollinger also brought in three runs, including on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning.
The season for Chartiers-Houston isn’t over. The PIAA tournament begins June 5
“We have almost two weeks until we play again in the state playoffs,” Alderson said. “We need to work on our batting. This deep in the playoffs you are going to see good pitching. We know there are a lot of really good teams in the state in Class Double-A. I guess we have to work on everything at this point.”