West Allegheny again tops TJ in PIAA semis
exacting revenge for that WPIAL championship loss.
“I just remember my heart sinking,” Seamon said of the homerun.
But even facing a two-run deficit, West Allegheny coach Mindi McFate didn’t sense any resignation on her bench inbetween innings.
“I give our bench kids a ton of credit because when we came back out in the bottom of the sixth, they were loud as can be and they were into the game,” McFate said. “Yeah, we were down, but it was only two runs. I think they kind of realized, ‘Hey, we’ve got to go now.’”
And so they went. Megan Pollinger led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and Amy Nolte reached on an error. Angela Costa followed with an RBI single, her third hit and second RBI of the game.
The Jaguars opted to walk Taylor Gold strohm — who had homered earlier in the game — to load the bases. Taylor Cummings and Mackenzie Partyka hit back-toback sacrifice flies to score two more runs, and Savannah Lewis added an RBI single to round out the inning.
All told, eight players came to the plate for the Indians, and each one either reached base or earned an RBI.
“I think that’s pretty much a testament to what our team does well,” McFate said. “We talk every day about everybody contributing.” Seamon admitted it wasn’t her best day on the mound, but credited her teammates with picking her up, particularly after Karcher’s homer.
“That support goes such a long way,” Seamon said. “The fact that we were still able to gather the energy to get momentum going that inning, that was huge for us. It was just energy all around. Positive, loud, encouraging energy.”
McFate said she thought Seamon might have been pressing a little bit, and at times had to tell her to simply “stop trying so hard.”
“You’ve been pitching for a lot of years,” McFate recalled telling her pitcher. “Stick with the system, stick with the process. Don’t overthrow, don’t overpitch, don’t analyze every single ball you’re throwing. Just trust the process, and let it come to you.”
Now, Seamon and the Indians will get their shot at a PIAA crown. McFate pointed out to her team after the game that, given the one-anddone nature of the playoffs, it’s rare for players to know when their final high school game will come. But for West Allegheny’s seniors, that game will be Thursday against either Solanco or Lampeter-Strasburg. And they’re ready for it.
“Every single person on this team wants to win, if not for themselves then for the girl standing next to them,” Seamon said.