Lady Tide Softball Falls to Moniteau in D9 Playoffs, 7-4

DUBOIS – The Curwensville Lady Tide’s quest for a District 9 championship ended on Wednesday evening as they fell in the class AA semifinals by a 7-4 final score.

A four run bottom of the first inning coupled with a three run fifth proved to be too big of an obstacle for the Lady Tide as a four run top of the sixth was not enough to lead the program to a playoff victory.

Moniteau needed just four hits in the game as a collection of errors on defense for Curwensville unfortunately played a pivotal role in helping the Lady Warriors advance to the next round. Moniteau was able to get the rally going early as lead-off batter Taylor Schultz reached on a walk and Courtney Stewart followed up with a single that advanced Shultz to third.

Courtesy runner Hannah Migliorsi came in to run for Stewart and was moved to third as Abby Rottman grounded out which plated Schultz to make it a quick 1-0 Lady Warrior lead. Emma Covert was able to reach on an error which allowed Miglorsi to score and make it a two run lead for Moniteau.

The rally continued as Covert scored on an RBI double from Emily Staab which extended the home squad’s lead to 3-0. Staab was able to take advantage of some more woes in the field by Curwensville as she moved up to third and eventually scored on an error by the Curwensville infield to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the first.

Curwensville was able to work out of trouble and limited the damage to four after one full inning of play. Despite 10 hits in the game, the Lady Tide was only able to score four runs in the game and found themselves down 7-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning.

In the fifth, Schultz singled to right and was able to score as Stewart reached on an error. The Lady Warriors extended their lead to 5-0. Stewart was able to get to third on another miscue in the field from Curwensville to get to third base with no out. The next batter was Rottman and she was able to reach first after being hit by the 2-2 offering.

After Rottman reached first, she was able to move up 60 feet to second to make it two runners in scoring position with no outs. Covert was able to reach first on an error which scored Stewart and allowed Rottman to get to third. The run made it a 6-0 lead with still no outs.

Curwensville was able to get a big out at the plate as Rottman was tagged out at home trying to steal as Covert moved up to second on the same play. After Staab reached on an error that also put Covert at third, Covert then was able to score to make it 7-0 on a sacrifice fly from Autumn Stewart.

Curwensville was able to get out of the inning down seven, but the bats woke up for the road team in the top of the sixth as they could feel their chances to win a D9 title slipping away.

The big inning started with a double from Logan Sheeder and was followed by a Joslynne Freyer RBI single that made it 7-1. Freyer tried to move into scoring position but was gunned out at second. What followed was an inside-the-park home run from Mackenzie Wall that inched the score closer at a 7-2 game in favor of Moniteau.

After another out, Shyanne Rudy kept the inning alive as she was hit by a pitch. She was able to move to second on a passed ball with Maddie Butler drawing a walk to put two runners on and two outs. Rylee Wiggins came through with a clutch two out single to right that scored Rudy and helped Butler reached second. It was now a 7-3 game with Curwensville hoping to keep the rally alive.

With Taylor Simcox at the plate, Butler was able to take advantage of a Moniteau error in the field and scored to make it a 7-4 game. Unfortunately, the rally was ended later in the at-bat and so was the scoring for the game as the Lady Warriors were able to keep their season alive and hold off the late comeback attempt from Curwensville.

The Lady Tide were able to get multi-hit games from Freyer who was three-for-four on the day with a double and an RBI. Logan Sheeder also had a strong game with two hits, including a double, and a run scored. Other hits in the ball game came from Abby Pentz, Wall, Rudy, Butler, and Wiggins who all were able to connect on base knocks in the ball game.

Curwensville finishes their 2021 campaign with a 12-9 overall record.

CURWENSVILLE – 4

Abby Pentz (SS) 4010, Logan Sheeder (2B) 4120, Joslynne Freyer (P) 4031, Mackenzie Wall (3B) 4111, Teagan Harzinski (1B) 3000, Shyanne Rudy (CF) 2110, Maddie Butler (C) 2110, Rylee Wiggins (RF) 3011, Kaylie Shaw (LF) 2000, Taylor Simcox (PH) 1000, TOTALS 29 4 10 3.

Batting

2B: Joslynne Freyer, Logan Sheeder
HR: Mackenzie Wall
TB: Rylee Wiggins, Mackenzie Wall 4, Shyanne Rudy, Maddie Butler, Joslynne Freyer 4, Logan Sheeder 3, Abby Pentz
RBI: Rylee Wiggins, Mackenzie Wall, Joslynne Freyer
HBP: Shyanne Rudy
CS: Shyanne Rudy, Joslynne Freyer

MONITEAU – 7

Taylor Schultz (2B) 2210, Courtney Stewart (P) 4210, Abby Rottman (SS) 2001, Emma Covert (1B) 3212, Rylee Hoffman (DP) 2000, Autumn Stewart (3B) 2001, Destiny Travis (RF) 3000, Brianna Rottman (CF) 3000, TOTALS 24 7 4 5.

Batting

2B: Emily Staab
TB: Courtney Stewart, Emily Staab 2, Taylor Schultz, Emma Covert
RBI: Autumn Stewart, Abby Rottman, Emily Staab, Emma Covert 2
ROE: Courtney Stewart, Emily Staab, Emma Covert 2
HBP: Autumn Stewart, Abby Rottman
SB: Abby Rottman, Emily Staab, Ashley Huffman
CS: Abby Rottman

Score by Inning

Curwensville 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Moniteau 4 0 0 0 3 0 X

Pitching

Curwensville Joslynne Freyer 6 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.

Moniteau Courtney Stewart 7 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.

W – Courtney Stewart (11-4). L – Joslynne Freyer (10-9).