May 19, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – As the umpires gathered at home plate, Canon-McMillan’s softball team formed a circle in their dugout, sang and danced the Hokey Pokey, preparing to attempt the unthinkable.

Despite a difficult 24-hour period, which included the game’s postponent because of a storm and two star players held out, the Big Macs’ were their usual, upbeat selves. It was all a part of head coach Michele Moeller’s plan.

All 18 players knew senior Abby McCartney and junior Linda Rush, a pair of Division 1 recruits, were not going to play in the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinal game against North Allegheny. But Moeller wanted her team, which would start four sophomores and two freshmen, loose.

Canon-McMillan was held hitless through four innings by North Allegheny pitcher Madi Beining but almost rallied from a four-run deficit in a 6-3 loss to the Tigers Tuesday evening.

It is the first time since 2012 that Canon-McMillan (13-5), the seventh seed, has not reached the semifinals and ends its run of three consecutive WPIAL title game appearances. Second-seeded North Allegheny (20-1) advanced to the semifinals, where it will face third-seeded Baldwin (13-3) tomorrow at a site and time to be determined.

Moeller cited an “internal matter” regarding McCartney, a Robert Morris recruit, and Rush, a Drexel recruit, not playing, and declined to comment further. Though the inexperience showed with two errors, the underclassmen almost helped C-M rallied with a three-run sixth inning.

Canon-McMillan pitcher Tara Fowler, one of two seniors in the lineup, built off a strong first-round performance with four strikeouts and prevented the Tigers from clutch hits early – stranding four on base in the first two innings. She stayed in the game after being hit with a line drive and scored a run after a single in the sixth inning.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team we put on that field today,” Moeller said. “I couldn’t be more proud of Tara Fowler, who stepped in there, got hit with a ball, pitched her heart out, and on a day where she could have walked away, she didn’t. I wish it wasn’t her final senior appearance.”

She will have a bruise to show it. North Allegheny’s Logann Woodley led off the second inning and hit a line drive directly at Fowler, hitting off her glove and into her left shoulder. Fowler shook it off to get the next two outs, but a fly ball dropped between C-M shortstop Brittney Crawford and left fielder Kayla Hopkins to score Woodley for a 1-0 lead.

With the way Beining was pitching, it looked like that’s all NA would need. The Tigers’ junior righty, who finished with 11 strikeouts, retired 13 straight after walking the game’s first batter. Beining’s no-hitter was broken up in the top of the fifth by third baseman Kirsten Rush, who went 2-for-3,. Rush was stranded at second base after back-to-back strikeouts.

Sparked by an error, North Allegheny scored three two-out runs in the fifth inning. Mackenzie Gostomski, who reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a passed ball, scored on an error.

One pitch later, Beining helped her cause by smacking a two-run homer for a 4-0 advantage.

“We just played an excellent softball team that sent us home the last two years,” North Allegheny head coach Rick Meister said. “It was not about revenge. That was not a motive for us at all, but we respect what they do as a program. We came out today and we got the key hit when we needed it.”

After Beining struck out the first two batters of the sixth inning, Taylor Bruno walked and Fowler singled. Freshman first baseman Katelyn Greaves pulled a 1-2 fastball down the left-field line for an RBI double and Rush hit a two-run double to deep center field to draw the Big Macs’ to within one run.

The Tigers added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run double by Gostomski to grab a 6-3 advantage. Beining allowed two singles in the final inning, but got a fly out to end the game.

Despite the difficult circumstances and the loss, Moeller could not have been more pleased with how a young lineup came close to defying the odds.

“Yes, we made some mistakes in the field. I knew that was potentially going to happen,” Moeller said. “I had a lot of freshmen in today too, but there was never any give up. They played together and it was a joy to be around them. I know it was rough on them today, but it is what it is.”