Ferri pitches shutout, drives in lone run for Chartiers-Houston in PIAA win
SLIPPERY ROCK – At practice Wednesday, Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson had a chat with her pitcher, Meadow Ferri.
She told her the ball was in her hands and that she is in control of what happens.
That was some accurate foreshadowing from the veteran coach.
Ferri was dominant from start to finish, pitching a two-hit shutout and she drove in the lone run in a 1-0 victory for the Bucs over District 10 champ Seneca in the PIAA Class 2A softball quarterfinals at Slippery Rock University’s Kasnevich Field.
“She was spinning the ball really well and her speed was good,” Alderson said. “All of her pitches were working. I’m really proud of her.”
Chartiers-Houston (22-2) will get a WPIAL championship rematch with Neshannock Monday in the state semifinals at a site and time to be announced.
The Lancers beat Chestnut Ridge, 5-3, Thursday. They won the WPIAL championship, 7-1, over the Bucs.
Chartiers-Houston is in the state semifinals for a second consecutive season after moving up from Class A to 2A this year.
Seneca finished a historic season, making the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1976, at 21-2.
Ferri, a Kent State recruit, had a dozen strikeouts and only one walk. She allowed only four baserunners. Seneca hit only two balls out of the infield.
“I just focused on everything I’ve been working on and staying calm,” Ferri said. “I know when I get tense that’s when I tend to throw high and not do my best, so I just kept reminding myself to stay loose. I tried to take my time and take a breath before every pitch and know that if the ball did get hit my fielders had my back.”
Chartiers-Houston’s run came in the bottom of the fifth. Ella Richey hit a ball over second base for a single and moved to second on a groundout by Lauren Rush. Ferri came to the plate with two outs and hit a liner up the middle that scored Richey.
“I knew she had been pitching me outside mostly and I was early on most of them,” Ferri said. “I moved up a little bit in the box and went with it to the outside and it got through.”
The only miscue by Ferri happened during the first batter of the game. Alara Bem hit a comebacker to her, but she spiked her throw to first and Bem was safe.
Bem wasn’t on first long, however. Bucs catcher Ella Richey threw to first base after a pitch and caught Bem too far off the bag and she was tagged out.
After that, Ferri set down 10 in a row.
Seneca’s best chance to score came in the fourth when Sophia Primavere drew a two-out walk and Haylee Farrell singled to right to put runners on the corners.
Mallory Hammill stepped in and waged a battle with Ferri, fouling off several pitches to get to a full count, but Ferri blew the 3-2 pitch by her to end the inning.
“It was an inside pitch,” Ferri said. “She was up on the plate, so I just focused on that corner, zoned in and hit my spot.”
Bem had Seneca’s only other hit in the sixth, a comebacker off Ferri’s leg that bounced far enough away from everyone that no play could be made.
Ferri shook it off and got a groundout and a strikeout to strand Bem.
Primavere, a lefty, pitched well for Seneca. The sophomore had three strikeouts.
Alderson said it was the first time Chartiers-Houston had faced a left-handed pitcher since last year’s PIAA quarterfinal against West Branch.
Seneca coach Roni Lipinski was proud of the way her young pitcher competed.
“It was a hard fought game and a pitcher’s duel for sure,” Lipinski said. “They had some hits, but we did a great job defensively covering every area. I couldn’t be any prouder of my team. Unfortunately, today we couldn’t produce runs.”
Taryne Drilak and Zaylee Fonner had two-hits apiece for the Bucs. Fonner reached base in all three plate appearances. She was hit by a pitch in the sixth.
There weren’t any extra base hits in the game and the time of game was only one hour, 24 minutes.