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Defending champion Deer Lakes busts out, eliminates McGuffey

2 min read

WEXFORD – Through the first two innings, McGuffey head coach Bill Lohr was feeling good.

Pitcher Cassie Weiss had faced six batters and struck out four, whand le the Highlanders scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on Mandy May’s triple to take a 2-0 lead on top-seeded Deer Lakes.

But the good feeling was short-lived as Deer Lakes had 16 hits over the final five innings, handing McGuffey a 13-3 defeat in the Class AA quarterfinals.

“Cassie had control of this thing,” said Lohr. “We were hitting their pitcher. And then it was like a hitting clinic. They hit the ball well. When we had the 2-0 lead, we had an opportunity to get the first out of the inning and made some errors. We actually had two outs and a runner on third, and they ended up scoring five runs.

“I guess that’s why they’re 17-0.”

It was that kind of afternoon for McGuffey (15-6).

Maureen Hutchinson reached via an error to start the third after her shot to third was overthrown at first base. Hutchinson moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a popout.

Five consecutive hits later, Deer Lakes had a 5-2 lead.

The Lancers continued to add to that lead, scoring two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth and seventh.

McGuffey scored its final run on an double by Meghan Schultz in the fifth that scored Sammie Weiss.

“It was kind of a new experience,” said Lohr, whose team loses only three seniors. “McGuffey had never made it past the first round. We tried to keep things loose in practice and not talk too much about Deer Lakes. But when it comes down to it, when you get to the quarterfinals, you’ve got to make the plays. We didn’t make the plays today.

“Overall, I’m happy with the season. The girls will continue to get better. They’ll learn from the experience.”

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