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Mapletown turns table on J-M softball

4 min read

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JEFFERSON – Mapletown couldn’t get that clutch hit against Jefferson-Morgan in a 3-0 softball loss on Wednesday.

Thursday afternoon was a totally different story.

The Maples pounded two early home runs and took advantage of four errors to earn a critical 7-2 win in Section 2-A over J-M at Dugan Memorial Field.

“We just needed to get those clutch hits,” Mapletown coach Raquel Cole said. “Yesterday we didn’t get them and left a lot of people on base. Those two early home runs were key for our confidence. The girls brought the right energy into today’s game and we were more determined.”

Mapletown (6-3, 9-3) started out the week with a 6-5 setback to Monessen on Monday then lost to the Rockets at home, before coming back with the huge win.

The Maples wrap up section play at West Greene today.

J-M coach Rich Rush felt his squad was coasting after the win over Mapletown the previous day, and that carried into the contest.

“I thought we were coasting in warmups,” Rush said. “I addressed that to the team right away before the game, and I guess they thought they could turn it around when the game started. You can’t expect to win when you make that many mistakes against a good team like Mapletown.”

It was the section finale for the Rockets (7-3, 8-5) who can finish no lower than tied for second place with Mapletown.

Macee Cree had another fantastic game in the circle for the visitors, picking up the win by allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk on 73 pitches.

“It was difficult to pitch on back-to-back days, but I knew I had to be mentally strong in the circle,” Cree said. “I trusted my pitches and I knew I couldn’t take any pitches off. I had to hit my spots every time. I threw my change-up for strikes late in the game, and I think that got them off-balance at the plate.”

After a scoreless first inning, Mapletown cracked the scoreboard in the second with a pair of two-out home runs, a two-run blast by Hannah Hartley and a solo shot by Kailey Stover.

“On my home run, I didn’t realize it was over the fence until I rounded second and looked at my coach,” Stover said. “I knew I needed to get a big hit and I was able to make good contact on the pitch. We always have to focus on hitting as a group.”

J-M trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third, when Savannah Clark launched an RBI double that scored Payton Wright, followed by a run-producing single by Jasmine Demaske.

The Maples extended their lead to 6-2 in the fifth with just one hit, as they capitalized on some J-M miscues.

Danielle Dewitt scored on an outfield error, and Hannah Dusenberry and Cree crossed home plate after a two-out infield throwing error.

“I won’t sugar-coat it, we were awful on defense today,” Rush said. “We probably gave them six extra outs on routine plays. When we play defense like that, we are not going to win games. Hopefully we can use this as a learning lesson and build from it.”

Mapletown added an insurance run in the sixth when Dusenberry’s infield single plated Stover, who had doubled with one out.

“Our focus the whole game was to keep our energy up no matter what and to get those big hits with runners on base,” Stover said. “We were a lot looser today than yesterday.”

After three hits in the third inning, the Rockets’ offense was stymied by Cree, who only allowed two hits – a two-out single by Caitlyn Dugan in the sixth and a two-out hit by Clark in the seventh – over the final four innings.

“We don’t like to look at the big picture or the standings. We just want to get a win and improve every day,” Cole said. “The top four teams in our section are tough, and you have to play your best and bring it every game. This is obviously a huge win for us.”

Dugan allowed seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks on 111 pitches.

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