Commodores await No. 1 seed Ligonier Valley

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

Frazier softball head coach Don Hartman was brutally honest after his team’s 15-4 loss to Laurel in Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 2A semifinal.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We’re no match for them,” he said after the game.

Now the Commodores are preparing for a WPIAL consolation game against No. 1 seed Ligonier Valley, who was upset by No. 5 Shenango, 3-1, in the other semifinal. The two teams will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Norwin High School.

The Rams (18-2) feature junior pitcher Madison Griffin, who threw her 11th no-hitter of the season against Shenango.

“So I’m not quite sure how to prepare, honestly,” Hartman said. “We faced (Autumn) Boyd in the semifinals, that’s easy to prepare for when you can set your machine up to 62-63. This girl, she’s in like the 50s, but her ball is all over the place.”

Griffin, Hartman said, throws pitches that aren’t overpowering, but they move like crazy. She struck out 13 hitters against Shenango and walked four. It was walks and a big error that allowed the Wildcats to put their three runs on the board without a hit.

“She’s hard to square up, that’s for sure,” he said. 

The Rams, and Griffin in the circle, have only allowed eight runs all season.

“This is a game where I definitely think if we can get squared up and get a few runs, we’ll have a good chance to win it,” Hartman said. 

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