Warriors get their act together again
Penn-Trafford was the top seed in the recent WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, but the Warriors were upset in the semifinals. As a result, they could not prove they were the best team in the district.
Thursday, the stated their case loudly and clearly.
The Warriors toppled WPIAL champion West Allegheny, 6-2, in a PIAA quarterfinal at Peters Township behind two home runs from sophomore Brooke Cleland.
Penn-Trafford next will face District 3 runner-up Donegal Monday at a time and location to be determined.
Ever since that stunning loss in the WPIAL playoffs, Penn-Trafford (21-2) has been hungry to prove itself. The Warriors also adopted a motto — the comeback is always stronger than the setback.
“It was time to come back,” Warriors coach Denny Little said.
And the matchup against the WPIAL champion was exactly what the Warriors needed.
“The WPIAL didn’t go the way we wanted to, and we wanted to play West-A all year,” said Cleland. “When we found out we were playing West-A, we were ready to go.”
Little did not have a big, fiery speech to pump up his team. He just told the Warriors to do what they usually do and pile up the runs.
“I told them to be ready and hit the ball,” Little said. “That’s it.”
Neither team scored in the first two innings, but once the Warriors got through the lineup once, the hits started rolling in. Emma Armstrong drove in
the first run with a double that brought home Madison Forsythe. Then, Cleland blasted a two-run homer to highlight the three-run third inning.
She delivered her second homer of the game with a drive over the fence in center in the seventh.
The Indians (13-8) got a run back in the third.
With one out, Maddie Rieker legged out an infield single and came home a few batters later courtesy of a fielder’s choice.
Penn-Trafford did not slow down in the fourth, scoring two more runs on a double by Carlee Lamacz.
Penn-Trafford starter Morgan Hilty kept the Indians guessing throughout her 5⅓ innings. West Allegheny pounded balls into the ground or tipped them off the ends of bats most of the game. Not a single Indians hit left the infield until Megan Pollinger lined a single to right in the fifth.
“Morgan is underrated. Very underrated,” Little said. “She has not given up a lot of runs all year.
“She changes speeds and locations and makes them swing. She’s not overpowering, she’s just a pitcher.”
Hilty fielded her position well with several putouts and a big fifthinning double play when she snagged a line drive and doubled up a runner at first.
“Penn-Trafford made big plays today,” West Allegheny coach Mindi McFate said.
“We must have hit the pitcher four or five times up the middle. Hats off to them, they played a great game.”
Hilty earned the win, scattering four hits and allowing two earned runs. Freshman Mia Smith got the save.
Losing pitcher Angela Costa allowed six earned runs and hit four Penn-Trafford batters.
West Allegheny stranded seven runners. The Indians loaded the bases in the third and sixth innings, scoring one run each time, but could not capitalize further.
Trailing, 5-2, in the sixth, Britney Wilson came to the plate with her .527 batting average in tow and the bases loaded. She never got a chance to hit, though, because Rieker was picked off first base by the catcher to end the inning
“We had opportunities,” McFate said. “We had runners in scoring positions multiple times. Today just wasn’t our day.”