May 20, 2019 4 min read

McMURRAY – Both offenses struck early, but then the pitchers for Connellsville and Trinity settled into the quarterfinal Class 5A softball game.

In an evenly played game, both teams had seven hits apiece and also left 18 runners on base.

The difference was a three-run second inning for the Falcons, as Connellsville held onto a 3-2 victory Monday afternoon at Pleasant Valley Field.

The Falcons (15-6) improved to 4-1 in the quarterfinal round since 2009 and will meet top-seeded Penn-Trafford Wednesday with a site and time to be determined.

Connellsville lost to West Allegheny in the semifinals last season.

“We just hung in there,” Connellsville coach John Burd said. “We knew it was going to be a close, competitive game between two well-coached teams. We were able get one more run than them. Both pitchers were on and both offenses had a tough time moving runners in scoring position.”

The Hillers (14-5) drop to 2-5 in the quarterfinal round since 2008 and saw their season end in the round of eight for the second consecutive year.

“For our team, we couldn’t get our small-ball game going,” Trinity coach Shawn Gray said. “We struggled with that, and usually we don’t. We scrimmaged them earlier in the season and we knew this would be a tight matchup that could go either way. Their pitcher was on and we left too many people on base.”

Mia Burd picked up the win in the circle for Connellsville, going seven innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Kylie Poland was tagged with the loss for Trinity, going five innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout. Emma Morgan came on in relief in the sixth and pitched a scoreless frame with two strikeouts and two walks.

“I thought Kylie pitched well and she gave us a great game,” Gray said. “The only reason I pulled her is because I wanted to give Connellsville another look. I thought both of our pitchers had strong command and gave us a chance to win.”

Trinity opened up the scoring in the top of the first when Poland smashed a towering home run to leftfield.

The Falcons responded with three runs in the bottom of the second, courtesy of an RBI hit by Madison Kinneer and a two-run single by Burd.

In the top of the third, the Hillers trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with a RBI double by Marlaina Bozek that scored Bailey Bell.

Both offenses were held down for the rest of the contest until the top of the seventh when Trinity loaded the bases with a hit batsman, a fielder’s choice and an infield error.

On a 3-2 count, Burd was able to induce a sharp groundout to shortstop for the final out in the tightly played, quarterfinal contest.

“Mia made the pitches when she needed to,” John Burd said. “She was in the zone and worked the counts on some of their power hitters. She battled the whole day and never gave up. It got tight near the end of the game, but I knew our girls could make the play and get the win. This is a special group and we are beyond excited to go to the semis.”

Despite the quarterfinal setback, Gray is still excited about the future of the Hillers.

“I feel bad for my seniors, because we were hoping to go further this season,” Gray said. “The future is still bright for us. We have a lot of returners coming back with a strong eighth grade class coming up. We are excited about next season and what we can do.”