Larcinese, Warriors shut down Yough
By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com
Kailey Larcinese outdueled fellow right-hander Emma Augustine to help lead Elizabeth Forward past visiting Yough, 1-0, in Section 2-4A play Wednesday at William Penn Field.
Larcinese tossed a three-hit shutout and struck out 10 batters en route to the win. The Towson recruit was efficient with her command as she threw 61 of her 74 pitches for strikes and didn’t walk a batter. She also threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 23 batters she faced.
“Kailey performed very well and was very efficient with her pitching today,” EF head coach Harry Rutherford said. “I’m always happy with no walks and getting ahead in the count is always key for me. She’s heard from me for four years about getting ahead in the count and the importance of first-pitch strikes. When she’s ahead in the count, she’s much more effective, and that’s what she’s been able to do a lot so far this year.”
For as good as Larcinese was, Augustine was just as effective for the Cougars (3-1, 1-1).
The junior hurler allowed just one run on five hits in six innings. She walked one and struck out two while throwing 46 of her 70 pitches for strikes.
“She was trusting the pitch calls and she was working everything she had,” Yough head coach Dutch Harvey said. “Her curveball was working well, her changeup kept them off pace and her fastball inside kept them off pace, too. Both teams had top pitching and the score was indicative of that.”
EF (4-2, 2-0) struck for the lone run of the game in the bottom of the first inning against Augustine.
Anna Resnik led off the frame with a single to center field before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brooke Markland. One batter later, EF’s top run producer from 2019 cashed in.
Bri Sersevic, an Alderson Broaddus recruit, doubled down the left field line, allowing Resnik to score from second to give the Warriors the only run they needed. The RBI was the fifth of the season for Sersevic, a senior who had a team-high 25 RBIs as a sophomore for EF two years ago.
Both Sersevic and Resnik each had two hits to help lead the EF offense.
“Getting that 1-0 lead definitely helped,” Rutherford said. “With that, Kailey knows she can just focus on pitching with the lead and then she knows she has a good defense behind her.”
After allowing two hits in the first inning, Augustine held EF’s offense at bay for the remainder of the game.
The Warriors’ next best chance to score came in the third inning when Markland reached on an error and Sersevic singled to left to put runners on first and second with one out. Augustine got out of the jam by inducing a flyout to second and striking out Grace Smith.
“She threw a lot of changeups and was very effective with it,” Rutherford said of Augustine. “You have to give her credit. She really took away some of the power we have.”
The Cougars had some missed opportunities at the plate as well.
Augustine, who had two of Yough’s three hits, had the team’s lone knock through four innings before she lined a single into center field and advanced to second on an error by Carlee Soukup. A sacrifice bunt by Maria Lindich allowed pinch runner Madelyn Ritenour to advance to third, but a bunt attempt by Makayla Spoonhoward turned into an out and Alli Augustine struck out swinging to end the threat.
The Cougars had another chance with a runner in scoring position in the sixth as Kaylyn Odelli delivered with a two-out double. Then, with Savannah Manns at the plate, Odelli attempted to steal third, but was gunned down by Sersevic for the final out.
Larcinese struck out two of the final three batters she faced in the seventh to seal the victory.
Though the late steal by Odelli was a gutsy call by Harvey, it’s one he doesn’t regret given the situation.
“It’s risk versus reward. Sometimes you have to do things like that,” Harvey said. “If that ball kicks away somehow, it’s a run. I was trying to make something happen when we had people on base.”
A one-run game was about what both coaches expected their first matchup to be like.
Now, they’ll look forward to the next time they meet on Cougar Mountain later this month.
“We expect a good game out of Mr. Harvey’s squad every time we play them,” Rutherford said. “You always know they’re going to be well-coached and ready to go.”
“I was hoping it would go our way, but both teams played a really good game,” Harvey said. “It kind of stinks getting them so early in the section, but next time around it could go either way.”
EF returns to action at Belle Vernon Friday, while Yough resumes play with a non-section tilt against Penn-Trafford today at home.