WEST MIFFLIN – One hump was finally cleared with Laurel defeating Neshannock in an elimination gamelast week, now the next was here, get their first victory in the state semifinals.
Through 6 innings, the Spartans we’re able to nurse a 6-5 lead, with the Everett Warriors in hot pursuit with a potential chance to walk it off, if the offense didn’t come through.
After an RBI groundout from Maddie Evans to extend the lead by one, Ivy Pancher blasted a 2-run home run to dead center off of reliever Anna Cooper field to give the much-needed insurance runs for a 9-5 win and book that elusive trip to the state championship game.
“That one was a no-doubter, I thought it was going to bang off the scoreboard”, said Bill Garroway, Laurel’s head coach. “That was a big stress reliever for sure. She took some aggression out on the ball.”
They’ll face either [1-1] Bristol or [7-4] Chartiers Houston in the PIAA 2A Championship on Friday at 11 AM.
Laurel was able to get hits from their first two batters at the plate with Maci Lang scoring on Lexi Krol’s RBI single, and Hayden Seifert scored om a wild pitch.
Alexis Bair would knock in an RBI scoring leadoff batter Pancher to add to an early advantage through 1.5 innings.
Then the Warriors would start their offense in the bottom of the second, with 5 hits and 8 batters heading to the plate, Kassi Howstare would score on an RBI double, and Anna Cooper would plate a run to cut the Spartans lead to 1 through 2 innings.
The third and fourth innings would begin a stretch where Laurel would get a leadoff runner to 3rd base and strand them there. Good base running by leadoff hitters we’re huge as 4 stolen bases and 1 wild pitch helped them continually gather runners in scoring position.
They had another leadoff baserunner make it to third and finally broke through in the fifth with Hailey Fell scoring on a sacrifice fly after notching her second straight double and advance on a wild pitch.
A second straight sacrifice fly by Maddie Evans scoring Lexi Krol pushed the lead to 5-2.
“Those leadoff runners usually score 80 percent of the time”, said Garroway. “You saw how the last three innings went. We did what we preached all year, put the ball in play and pressure the defense.”
After leaving five on base through the first four innings, Laurel only left one through the
remainder of the game.
A run-scoring single by Anna Cooper in the bottom of the fifth scoring courtesy runner Lydia McCahan kept the Warriors in the running. The Spartans countered back with a sacrifice bunt for an RBI by Hayden Seifert scoring Alexis Bair kept them ahead through 5.5 innings.
A big bottom of the sixth made it nervous times for Laurel. A leadoff single by Gabi Dadetto had her come home on an RBI double by Morgan Bowser, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Addy Wood.
Addy Wood was tabbed with the loss as the starting pitcher for the Warriors, allowing 9 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks and striking out 1 in 5 innings. Anna Cooper pitched 2 innings allowing 3 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and struck out 1.
Everett would get no closer than within one run, because of the work of Laurel’s Riley Balcom, who earned the win, allowing 12 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 3 walks and striking out 2.
“She was a bulldog today,” said Garroway. “We don’t change; we keep doing our thing. Riley will throw strikes, we play strong defense, put the ball in play and run the bases smart and aggressively.”