Lady ‘Cats take advantage of Central errors in 9-2 victory
By KIM MOERSCHBACHER — kim@lockhaven.comArticle Photos
In the circle, she gave up six hits, walked four and fanned a pair of batters.
The problem came from behind her on the mound, where the Lady Dragons had six errors in the field.
Central Mountain was right there to take advantage.
The Lady Wildcats put together strings of hits and runs, and picked up a 9-2 victory on Senior Day at Peddie Park.
Three seniors — Katelyn Killinger, Keshia McGinness and Megan Karichner — contributed to the team’s final victory as they combined for two hits and four RBI.
“It meant a lot, because for the past couple years, we haven’t been great and now we are,” said Killinger, who was 2-for-3 with three RBI. “It feels really good to keep winning, especially in my last home game. The hitting was key, and we always have good fielding. We had stuff to work on, but we are pretty good now.”
Smith seemed to be finding her marks, but it was the defense that let her down. She gave up only four earned runs, while her teammates let easy grounders and simple plays get by them. And with CM (14-2) boasting a .960 fielding percentage, the likelihood of Central (6-14) catching a break were few and far between.
“It feels awesome,” McGinness said of the win. “I’m ready for districts, and that was just another step toward it. I didn’t do great hitting, but fielding-wise, we did really well. It will be tough leaving the girls.
“We take it one game at a time. When we know the other team’s bats are better, it’s harder for us. I wish we didn’t know how good any team was, because we could play harder every game. I think we take every game pretty seriously because the one game we took lightly ended up biting us. We’ve learned.”
A routine ground ball to second allowed Heidi Shoemaker to reach the first-base bag in the second frame, pushing courtesy runner Hayley Pavalko across the dish. After being moved over on a sacrifice bunt, Shoemaker made her way home on a stolen base and wild pitch for another quick run.
Starting CM pitcher Brittany Kunes roped a triple, Karichner walked, and Killinger drove a pitch straight to center field for two more Lady Wildcat runs.
In the fourth, the Lady Dragons had three miscues on the infield that led to two more unearned runs.
Those were the breaks that the Clinton County school got that Central head coach Dale Walters didn’t want to see.
He’s preached all season to his girls about the importance of fielding against a good-hitting team, but his words haven’t seemed to matter.
“It’s been a problem all year long, and it’s been routine stuff,” the Central head coach said of his team’s miscues. “There wasn’t one play out there that an error was made on that wasn’t a routine play. Nobody has anybody idea how frustrated I am with it, but I don’t know what else to do for them. We hit thousands of fly balls and ground balls, but they just can’t do it in game situations. We start one senior and two juniors, and the rest are ninth- and tenth-graders, so we are young. But it is routine stuff.
“She (Smith) has done a great job, and she is only a tenth grader. Our defense has just left her down all year. She works hard all year long, and she deserves a lot better. She is probably the leader of this team, both on the field and off the field. She really struggled the first half of the season, but in the last four or five games, she has really been hitting the ball very well.”
Smith produced nearly half of her team’s hits, as she was 3-for-3 with two triples in the game.
In the fourth, she crushed a triple, and three batters later, crossed home on a single by Keshia Mock. In the fifth, Laura Clouse came home on a Janel Hall grounder to second for the team’s final run of the contest.
Those runs never phased CM starter Kunes, who worked a complete-game seven-hitter for her first home victory of the season. The defense stayed poised behind her and the offense gave her plenty of run support.
“We’ve been a team that has been built around defense and pitching,” CM head coach Dave Peters said. “We’ve played a lot of close games and some one-run games here and there. We’ve been able to win those close games. If we can get the bats along with that, then we become an even more dangerous team. That’s what I’m hoping over these next couple games that we can get the performance with our bats and add to the success that we’ve had.
“It was an emotional day because of Senior Day, and this team had a lot of other stuff going on, too. We shed some tears as a team before the game started, but pulled ourselves back together.
“We hit the ball hard a lot of times. We had some real hits. We didn’t pile up a lot of runs, but I thought (Central) fielded the ball well. They are a young team, but they look like they have some talent. Overall, I was pleased with our performance. As a coach, you always want to get a lot of runs and hits, but as a coach, I can’t be disappointed because we’ve been fielding the ball really well.”
The Lady ‘Cats tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth.
Along with Killinger’s trio of RBI, Taylor Lesser had two while Shoemaker, Kunes and Karichner each had one. Megan Rupert, Lesser and Kunes also each had base hits for CM.
The Lady Wildcats have two regular-season games left on the schedule, and both are away. Today, they’ll meet up with Altoona, and Friday the girls will travel to Philipsburg-Osceola in a make-up game from Monday.
“We are unified, and we have a good team,” McGinness said. “We stick together when we need to, and as long as we have our bats going, we’re headed for more than districts.”
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 9, CENTRAL 2
C 000 110 0 — 2 7 6
CM 040 221 x — 9 6 0
C: Rachel Smith and Marissa Ayers. CM: Brittany Kunes and Tierra Miller. WP — Kunes (2-0). LP — Smith. 3B: C, Smith 2. CM, Rupert, Shoemaker, Kunes. MH: C, Smith 3. CM, Killinger 2. Records: C 6-14. CM 14-2.
