Frazier can’t overcome early deficit in semifinal loss to Laurel

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com

Frazier softball coach Don Hartman didn’t mince words following his team’s six-inning loss to Laurel in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals Wednesday.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we’re no match for them,” he said. “They are simply bigger, faster and stronger than us, and they showed that in a couple of spurts today.”
The second-seeded Spartans struck for seven runs in the first inning and relied on a strong pitching performance from Autumn Boyd to rout the third-seeded Commodores, 15-4, at Mars.
With the win, Laurel (16-1) advances to play either No. 5 Shenango or No. 1 Ligonier Valley in the 2A championship game next week at Cal U.
“They swing the bats and they come at you,” Hartman said of the Spartans, who finished with 17 hits in the win. “In (the 2019 WPIAL championship game), they did that to us, too. We hung in there for awhile, but they’re just a great team.”
Laurel, which has now won three of its last four playoff meetings with Frazier (16-4), wasted little time getting on the board.
After allowing a run in the top half of the first, the Spartans quickly took a 2-1 lead on three pitches from freshman Nicole Palmer.
Kaylee Withrow led off with a single and Addie Deal tied the game with an RBI double to right field. One batter later, Boyd lined an RBI single up the middle to give Laurel a one-run edge.
Grace Kissick reached on an infield single before Palmer induced a 6-3 groundout for the first out of the inning.
The next two batters – Grace Zeppelin and Abbie Miles – each delivered with RBI singles to push Laurel’s lead to 4-1.
After Palmer got a big strikeout for the second out of the frame, an error proved costly for the Commodores. Palmer got Bekah Valenti to hit a ground ball to third baseman Delaney Warnick, who corralled it and overthrew Rylee Evans at first base, allowing a pair of runs to score and push the lead to five.
Withrow, who went 4 for 5 with three RBIs in the win, added an RBI double that just stayed fair near the foul line in left field to cap off the first-inning outburst.
Despite the shaky opening frame, Palmer settled down over the next 3 2/3 innings. During that span, the freshman allowed just two hits and struck out four.
She finished by allowing 15 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits and two walks. She struck out five in 5 1/3 innings.
“I’m super proud of Nicole. She never wavered or showed any emotion,” Hartman said. “She just kept plugging and fighting.”
Frazier’s offense couldn’t get much going against Boyd in the circle.
She allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits while walking five and striking out 13 in six innings of work.
The Commodores scored their first run of the game on a wild pitch in the first inning before adding another in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Rylee Evans. Evans also added a two-run single in the fifth. The only other Frazier player to reach on a hit was Tori Washinski, who finished with two, including a double.
“What I am happy and proud about is that after that first inning, we grabbed the boot straps, pulled them up and played some good ball for four and a half innings there,” Hartman said. “They gained a ton of experience and learned a lot.”

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