Big inning squashes Warriors’ hope for state championship
By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com
Through four and a half innings Thursday, the Elizabeth Forward softball team was in the driver’s seat against the WPIAL champions from Beaver.
The Warriors held a 3-0 lead after adding an insurance run in the top of the fifth inning and pitcher Kailey Larcinese had retired eight straight batters, while allowing just one hit through four innings.
In the bottom half of the fifth, however, Beaver benefited from its patience and some clutch hitting.
The Bobcats used three walks, a pair of run-scoring base hits and a sacrifice fly to score five runs and rally past the Warriors, 5-3, in a PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal at Norwin High School.
“It seemed like Kailey just kinda lost it there. She said the ball was slipping on her,” EF head coach Harry Rutherford said. “When you get one bad inning when the pitcher isn’t on, it’s gonna hurt.”
Beaver (19-0) loaded the bases with one out in the fifth as Larcinese surrendered a pair of walks before hitting Hanna Crowe with a pitch. One batter later, McKenzie Boyd drew another walk to cut the Bobcats’ deficit to 3-1.
Then, junior Payton List delivered by lining an RBI double into the gap in left-center field, plating a pair of runs to tie the game.
Emily Hohenshel followed with an RBI single into left field and Kayla Cornell brought in a run on a sacrifice fly to give Beaver all the run support it needed.
Larcinese allowed five runs on just three hits in five innings of work for EF. She struck out two, but walked five. Shelby Telegdy pitched a scoreless sixth inning before the Bobcats set down the Warriors in order in the seventh to clinch a trip to the PIAA semifinals for the first time in program history.
“They earned it in hitting the ball,” Rutherford said of Beaver. “They forced Kailey to put the ball in the middle of the plate and they hit it hard. They deserved everything they got.”
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