C-M back on track, wins playoff opener
McMURRAY – Don’t look now but Canon-McMillan’s softball team is out of its slump and ready to cause trouble in the WPIAL playoffs.
The Big Macs went toe-to-toe against Mount Lebanon for four innings, neither giving up nor scoring a run.
The Big Macs burst open Tuesday’s playoff game with four runs in the fifth and another three in the sixth and starting pitcher Callie Stonemark allowed only four hits in Canon-McMillan’s 7-0 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs at the Pleasant Valley Elementary School field.
The win moved the Big Macs to 9-11 and pits them against undefeated Hempfield in the next round of the playoffs. Mt. Lebanon finished the season with an 8-11 record.
“Kudos to (Mt. Lebanon). They played us tough,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Michele Moeller.
This was the third meeting this season between the two teams and Canon-Millan has won two of the three.
“It’s playoff time so its going to be tight,” Moeller said. “It’s hard to blow teams out.”
Canon-McMillan began the season with five consecutive wins then dropped into aslump that saw the Big Macs struggle to a 2-11 record. But Canon-McMillan showed signs of life in the final game of the regular season and Moeller thet she saw the Big Macs breaking out of it.
“Our bats had gone away and we found them against Bethel Park,” said Moeller. “That’s where we have to be. We know we have to score runs.”
The scoring was spread around. Lyla Yakubik, Aurora Sherdin and Sophie Carl each drove in a run and C-M got two runs on misplayed fly balls.
“When our sticks went quiet, that was a really big problem for us. And it kind of snowballed,” said Moeller. “We know Hempfield is No. 1 for a reason.”