Yates has Bentworth softball team on solid footing
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Bentworth’s Casey Hite pitches during the game against Charleroi Thursday, April 14. Bentworth won 7-2.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Charleroi’s Ashley Smith pitches in the game against Bentworth on Thursday, April 14.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Bentworth’s Savanah Adams hits a double in the second inning against Charleroi.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Charleroi’s Adrianna Gottheld watches her teammate at bat to run to third base during the sixth inning against Bentworth.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Bentworth’s Aubree Yates runs to third base during the game against Charleroi on Thursday, April 14.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Bentworth’s Autumn Zgorliski fields a ball in the third inning while playing a game against Charleroi.
BENTLEYVILLE – Aubree Yates squinted to block the sun from her eyes and pointed to the dirt between first and second base at Bentworth High School’s softball field. It was in that spot almost 11 months earlier where the Bearcats’ speedy leadoff hitter rounded first, planted her right foot and heard a pop before falling hard to the ground in pain.
She remembers the date – May 5 – and every detail about tearing her right ACL. It was a 2-2 count, she was leading off the third inning and Bentworth was leading section rival Charleroi. A routine play turned into a nightmare that lasted months.
There was the anguish of missing a WPIAL playoff game, the frustration of going to prom with the injury, the nervousness of surgery May 18 and three tedious months of physical therapy. As she cried in the moments after the 15-5 playoff loss to Mohawk, all she could think was, “What if?”
As she ran onto the field in her first game back on the same field Thursday, the only reminder of those tears and frustration was a knee brace. She was back hitting leadoff and playing center field.
There are no longer any what ifs. Instead, Yates, who is now a senior, is busy reminding everyone that injuries are no longer going to deter Bentworth.
She scored two runs and drove in another to help the Bearcats defeat Charleroi, 7-2, in a Section 2-AA game.
“When she’s on base, she makes us go,” Bentworth head coach Jack Cramer said. “I tell her that any way you can get on base, do it. Our rule is if we’re coming out, swing away. She’s a smart baserunner and when you have the girls coming behind her, they can all lay a bunt down.”
The Bearcats (3-0, 6-1) play like Yates approached her knee injury: fearless and no regard for any outside doubters. They scattered 13 hits, stole three bases and played strong defensively. It all starts with the leadoff hitter – Yates.
She led off the game with a ground-rule double and scored two batters later when senior shortstop Morgan Vickless laid down a bunt single. Bentworth made it 3-0 when Autumn Zgorliski hit a breaking ball down the middle for a two-run double and she scored two pitches later, when freshman Leah Lindley hit a double to left field.
Yates, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base, also reached on an infield single in the fourth inning, speeding down the first-base line to beat the throw, and she added an RBI single in the sixth inning to give Bentworth an insurance run. She came around to score on a throwing error to make it 7-2.
When the Bearcats lost in the WPIAL playoffs last May, they were down four of their top five hitters in the order, including pitcher Casey Hite. Now, they’re healthy and a strong freshman class, led by Lindley and first baseman Savanah Adams, has them atop the section standings.
“Most of it is the confidence,” Yates said. “Casey is back 100 percent and we have a freshman who can pitch if we need her to. We all know that if someone gets hurt, we have enough girls who are trying their hardest and busting their butts to be there for us. We can have the greatest team out there.”
Confidence is something Charleroi is working to develop. One day after defeating Beth-Center by 10 runs, the Cougars struggled by committing two errors, another mental mistake that led to a run in the fourth inning, and they stranded nine runners on base.
Charleroi was in position to take an early lead, but Adrianna Gottheld was thrown out at home when trying to score from second on a sacrifice bunt. The Cougars also didn’t take advantage of Bentworth’s mishaps, including two double plays off line drives, but there were a few bright spots for Charleroi.
Gottheld went 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot, Morgan Riley was 2-for-3 and Kaitlyn McCann hit a two-run triple in the third inning.
“We get a couple on then we hit a couple pop ups when you have to hit line drives,” Charleroi head coach Trey Tilghman said. “We didn’t take advantage of some misfortunes they had running themselves out of innings and we didn’t take advantage of a couple chances we had.”
Bentworth also didn’t take advantage of opportunities, including a runner caught stealing in the second inning and it stranded the bases loaded in the fourth inning, but the Bearcats took a 5-2 lead in the fourth on an RBI infield single by Vickless, who went 3-for-4 with a run.
With the roster finally healthy, especially the one atop the order who can track down fly balls in the widened outfield at Bentworth, the Bearcats, like Yates, are out for redemption. Their optimisim can be summed up with the way Yates described her return in a black and gold uniform last month.
“It was the greatest thing ever,” Yates said.