Apr 21, 2023 4 min read

CHARLEROI – Since handing Charleroi its first loss of the season on April 10, Burgettstown had been in a rut, as it lost two out of its next three games.

The Blue Devils (5-2, 8-4) got back on track Friday afternoon, as they went on the road and defeated the Cougars, 5-3, to stay in the thick of the Class 2A Section 3 race.

OLSH is in first place at 6-1 and Burgettstown is tied with Bentworth for second and Charleroi (4-2, 9-2) sits in fourth.

“We haven’t been playing well the last couple of weeks, and the last time we played well was against Charleroi,” said Burgettstown coach Mark Deer, who couldn’t hide his emotions. “It was nice that we could shake off the losses we had and can move on now.”

Charleroi coach Trey Tilghman gave Burgettstown pitcher Julia Jastrzebski credit as she kept the Cougars in check for most of the game. While the senior didn’t strike out any batters, she forced Charleroi into 11 outs in the air.

“She screwed with our heads so bad,” Tilghman said of Jastrzebski. “We had (11) popups for outs. That’s exactly how the first game was. Exactly.”

Deer lauded his ace for her performance.

“She is the most underrated pitcher in the section, and maybe the WPIAL,” Deer said. “She keeps us in every game, works hard and doesn’t overthrow.

“Her placement of the ball was great, and she is just hard to hit.”

The game was scoreless into the fourth inning when Burgettstown scored three runs.

Kate Rose Smith singled in a run, and two batters later, Peyton Merman doubled in a pair.

The three-run lead didn’t last long, as the Cougars countered with two runs in the bottom of the inning when Maddie Lancy drilled a two-run homer deep over the left-field fence.

An inning later, the Cougars tied the score on a passed ball and looked prime to take the lead.

With one out and Lyla Brunner on third, McKenna DeUnger hit a fly ball to center field for the second out.

Tilghman sent Brunner but Merman threw Brunner out on a close play to end the threat.

“Maddie hit a nice home run to get us back in the game,” Tilghman said. “I thought we would get Lyla home on that sacrifice fly, but (Merman) made a good throw and it was close at home.”

In the top of the seventh, Raya Sentipal singled in the winning run that was set up with a sacrifice bunt by Jastrzebski.

Sentipal scored an insurance run a batter later on a Charleroi error.

“That was us being aggressive on the bases,” Deer said. “We played the basic ball with the bunt and took advantage of our opportunities today.

“We had a couple of other opportunities to do things, but they made plays. They are a good team.”

Tilghman spoke about Burgettstown’s approach.

“They small-balled us pretty good and we weren’t ready for a couple of them,” he said. “They have some fast girls.

“I’m proud of the way we battled back, but we didn’t get the big hit (late) when we needed it.”

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Emma Stefanick singled, but Jastrzebski finished off the last two batters.

Burgettstown led 12 runners on base while Charleroi stranded seven.

Merman finished with a single, double and triple for Burgettstown while Sentipal added two singles.

Lancy led Charleroi with her homer as well as a single.

The Blue Devils host OLSH Tuesday and Beth-Center (0-6, 0-11) Wednesday before heading to Bentworth Friday.

Charleroi is at Beth-Center Monday, hosts Bentworth Wednesday and is at Washington (0-6, 0-7) Friday.

“I told the girls we are still good,” Tilghman said. “They have to play OLSH twice, we already beat (OLSH) and have them here. The section is so unpredictable.”

Deer finished by again showing emotion as he spoke about his team.

“They have a lot of heart,” he said. “A lot of heart.”