Costly mistakes
Errors loom large in Mount Pleasant鈥檚 loss in WPIAL softball final
CALIFORNIA 鈥� Coaches always preach that you never want to give a team extra outs.
That theory is further amplified based on the quality of competition, which proved to be costly for Mount Pleasant, as it fell to South Park, 10-1, on Thursday in the final of the WPIAL Class 3A softball playoffs at PennWest California鈥檚 Lilley Field.
The Eagles (20-1) entered the contest with the lowest runs allowed in the WPIAL at 20, which is a credit to starting pitcher Sydney Sekely and a solid defensive unit behind her.
The Vikings (15-5) were hindered by five errors, but only trailed by one run after three innings before South Park scored two runs apiece in the fourth and fifth frames, and four in the sixth to put the game away.
鈥淭o make all those errors is very uncharacteristic of our team,鈥� Mount Pleasant coach Paul Reho said. 鈥淚 told the girls after the game, if you want to win a championship, you can鈥檛 have that many errors.鈥�
Sekely wasn鈥檛 unhittable but she had a solid outing in allowing one earned run on five hits over seven innings. She had seven strikeouts and walked two. The Eagles didn鈥檛 commit an error.
Grace Kempton paced South Park鈥檚 offensive output in finishing a home run shy of the cycle and driving in three runs. Teammate Kaitlyn Polk had two base hits and two RBIs.
The Eagles鈥� Paige VanDyke added two singles and drove in a run.
Emma Hays and Layla Pacifico each had an RBI double.
South Park opened the scoring in the first frame when Sydney Dubyak reached on an error, advanced to second after Hays reached first base safely on a fielder鈥檚 choice and both touched home plate when Kempton singled through the right side for a 2-0 lead.
Mount Pleasant cut the deficit to 2-1 with a run in the top of the third when Sadie Poole was hit-by-pitch, advanced to second on Chloe Borelli鈥檚 sacrifice bunt and scored on Jenna Whipkey鈥檚 single to center field.
The Vikings kept the Eagles from scoring in the bottom of the third, but couldn鈥檛 get anything going in their half of the fourth before South Park added two more for a 4-1 advantage.
鈥淲e were in the game, but I think the turning point of the game was in the fourth inning when they had 7-8-9 up in their order,鈥� Reho said. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楳an, we could really go for a quick inning here.鈥� We get seven and eight, and we walk nine, and that just can鈥檛 happen. The top of their lineup hits the ball pretty well. We can鈥檛 walk nine in that spot.鈥�
South Park pushed its lead to 6-1 in the fifth and 10-1 after six frames before Sekely worked around a lead-off single from Carly Surma to help the Eagles earn their second WPIAL championship, and first since 2003.
Kendra Brunson had two of Mount Pleasant鈥檚 five hits, including a double with one out in the second inning. Following Brunson鈥檚 double, Kendell Waters walked, but Sekely put an end to the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
Gracie Etling singled and Borelli walked in the fifth to put runners on first and second with two outs, but Sekely forced a popup to third base to end the inning.
鈥淲e got some good bats on balls and had runners in scoring position, but it鈥檚 putting hits together to score runs,鈥� Reho said. 鈥淲e did it one time, but after that, when we had runners in scoring position, we didn鈥檛 get it done.鈥�
Danica Trainer took the loss in the circle, but only yielded five earned runs. She didn鈥檛 record a strikeout and walked one.
The Vikings鈥� season is not over, as they will play District 10 champion Sharon (21-0) on Monday in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs. The site and time are to be determined, but it will most likely be held at a facility within District 10.
鈥淭he only way you get experience in these types of games is by making it,鈥� Reho said. 鈥淚t was the first time for this group to get into a game like this. I think the experience of being in this game will help us, but also motivate us for next year. We plan to be here next year, but we are not done yet. They are a resilient group and will be ready to go on Monday.鈥�