Monessen ekes out 1-0 win over Lady Rockets
Darnell Graham
Jefferson-Morgan pitcher Camryn Dugan prepares to release a pitch during Monday蘑菇视频 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game against Monessen at Canon-McMillan.
Monessen蘑菇视频 Madison Guzzie (18) prepares to apply the tag to Jefferson-Morgan蘑菇视频 Nicole Venick during Monday蘑菇视频 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Canon-McMillan. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
Darnell Graham RN
Jefferson-Morgan蘑菇视频 Sadie Fowler (22) slides into third base as Monessen蘑菇视频 Kelsey Bachinski awaits the throw during Monday蘑菇视频 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Canon-McMillan.
NORTH STRABANE 鈥� The Monessen softball squad advanced to its second-straight WPIAL Class A quarterfinal appearance after a stellar pitching performance by sophomore Dana Vatakis in the Lady Greyhounds鈥� 1-0 win over Jefferson-Morgan Monday afternoon at Canon-McMillan.
Vatakis registered 13 strikeouts and held the defending Class A champion hitless through five innings in a spectacular outing from the circle. She only had one walk, and limited J-M to just three hits and six baserunners.
鈥淭his was one of my better games this year,鈥� Vatakis said. 鈥淚 got that outside corner and I was just focused on pitching to both sides of the plate. My defense was great behind me and I was in a zone at times today.鈥�
The Lady Greyhounds (14-5) will now play Serra Catholic, a 7-5 winner over Jeannette, in next Monday蘑菇视频 quarterfinals. Time and site for the contest is still to be determined.
鈥淭his team has a lot of resolve and this is a team that has battled all year,鈥� Monessen coach Bo Teets said. 鈥淛-M is a quality opponent and they have a really nice program. Dana was just on today. She was able to hit her locations and switch speeds. The big stage does not intimidate her. We are excited to play for another day.鈥�
Camryn Dugan was the hard-luck loser on the rubber for the Lady Rockets (10-8), despite keeping Monessen off-balance with her change-up throughout the game.
Dugan pitched seven innings of one-run ball, scattering four hits and had two strikeouts to go with three walks.
鈥淲e saw each other earlier in the season (a 5-4 win for Monessen in eight innings) and we knew defense was going to be key,鈥� J-M coach Tony Barbetta said. 鈥淲e made a couple of mistakes and that cost us today. I鈥檓 really proud of Camryn. She 鈥渃hange-up鈥檈d鈥� them to death and was able to get some ground balls. We fought for seven innings today.鈥�
After two scoreless innings, the fifth-seeded Lady Greyhounds tallied the decisive run in the bottom of the third.
Tori Simpson led off the frame with a single and later crossed home plate with two outs in the third after an errant throw to first base got away.
鈥淲e had an idea that this was going to be a one-run game,鈥� Teets said. 鈥淏oth pitchers were on today and we were just lucky to have that one big inning. It took a while for us to adjust to their pitcher蘑菇视频 speed. She is a competitor and kept us off-balance.鈥�
The Lady Rockets got their first hit in the sixth with one out when Maddie Van Divner beat out an infield single. A batter later, Morgan Simkovic slapped a single to centerfield, but Van Divner was tagged out at third trying to advance on the play.
J-M had one last rally in the seventh when Kayla Yorko smashed a double to lead off the frame and Brooke Diamond drew a walk with no outs.
Despite having runners on board, Vatakis calmed down and collected two strikeouts, sandwiched around an infield-fly rule, to get out of the jam and preserve the victory.
鈥淚鈥檓 just focused on one batter at a time and try to not think about how many strikeouts I have,鈥� Vatakis said. 鈥淎fter that leadoff double in the seventh, I just buckled down and worked in my pitches. To get this win means a lot to our program.鈥�