It’s deja vu for Mapletown softball
McMURRAY – For the second straight season, the Mapletown softball team was in a wild, first round contest in the Class A playoffs.
And for the Maples, it was the same result, too.
Mapletown committed six errors, left 13 on base and gave up four runs in the top of the seventh, as Jeannette registered the upset with a 7-3 win Tuesday evening at Pleasant Valley Field.
“It wasn’t our best effort today,” Mapletown coach Raquel Cole said. “We had way too many errors in the field and we watched way too many strikes at the plate. Those two things were the difference maker.”
A year ago, the Maples (10-6) dropped a back-and-forth contest to Sewickley Academy, 13-12, in the opening round.
The Jayhawks (9-5) will now play No. 2 seed Leechburg in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Jeannette was able to break away from a 3-3 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh, courtesy of just one hit.
After back-to-back infield errors led to a run, winning-pitcher Faith Johnston launched a two-run double for the big blow in the frame. Jeannette tacked on one more run in the inning by way of a RBI groundout by Alexie Shaw.
“Both teams had some early chances to break this game open,” Jeannette coach Zac Karas said. “We stuck with it and in the top of the seventh we had our best hitters come up to the plate and deliver. We just put the ball in play and capitalize on their mistakes.”
Kailey Stover led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, but she was left stranded after a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to shortstop.
“It was a mental thing with us,” Cole said. “We were not aggressive enough at the plate and couldn’t move runners around the base. It was frustrating to watch because we are usually a pretty good hitting team.”
Johnston went seven inning for the complete-game victory, allowing three runs on seven hits with 12 strikeouts and four walks on 146 pitches.
“She was a little wild early on, especially with three walks in the first inning,” Karas said. “She’s a gamer and when she is on she is just on. I think from the fourth inning on, she was pounded the zone and getting ahead in the counts.”
Macee Cree was tagged with the loss in the circle, going seven innings and only allowing three hits for seven runs with seven strikeouts and three walks on 111 pitches.
After a scoreless first inning, the Maples grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second courtesy of a RBI single by Faith Burkholder-Walter and a sacrifice fly by Cree.
The Jayhawks quickly answered back with two runs in the third, via a two-out, two-run single by Taylor-Lynn Finken. The No. 10 seed then took a 3-2 lead in the fourth after Haley Kulha scored on an infield throwing error.
Mapletown responded with a run in fourth, an RBI single by Hannah Hartley, but couldn’t plate any more runs before the disastrous top of the seventh.
“We are young, and we only have one senior starter,” Cole said. “So we bring a lot back and we have a lot coming up too. I really like the future of this program, just this loss really stings. We have to learn from this game and be better next season.”