Franklin Regional fends off Latrobe in section slugfest

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | 9:43 PM

Franklin Regional measured up in its latest softball victory.

Toryn Fulton launched a towering, opposite-field home run in the bottom of the first inning that traveled around 200 feet.

In the second, third baseman Ceana Copeland made a laser throw 60 feet across the diamond to complete a double play.

But it was Adrianna Martz’s bunt single, which barely traveled three feet, that may have been the most important hit of the day.

Martz’s squeeze bunt in the fifth somehow knocked in two insurance runs — the ninth and 10th for her team — as the Panthers staved off visiting Latrobe, 10-8, in a Section 2-5A game Wednesday in chilly Murrysville.

“That was my first bunt of the year,” Martz said. “Coach (Jim Armstrong) called it, and it worked out.”

With Fulton at second after getting hit by a pitch on the thigh and Ciara Camacho at first with a single, Armstrong saw an opportunity.

His girls executed perfectly: Martz dropped the bunt into a puff of dust, and Fulton and Camacho ran like legs of a 400-meter relay as Latrobe threw to first.

The quick runs made it 10-5.

“Ciara never stopped running,” Armstrong said. “Toryn isn’t slow, either. I knew she was going to score there. I made a mistake earlier in the game when I held Ciara and told her there was a foul ball. We knew we could score on a squeeze there.”

The Panthers (7-7, 4-4) banged out nine hits — eight singles and a two-run blast by Fulton — and returned to .500 with their fourth win in six games.

Martz finished 2 for 2 with two walks, Camacho was 2 for 4 and Iyarah Hicks was 2 for 4 with two RBI singles for Franklin Regional.

Fulton also was walked intentionally twice and finished 1 for 1.

Latrobe (6-7, 5-3), which had won four of its last six, showed moxie after falling behind by five on Martz’s bunt hit.

After they went down in order in the sixth, the Wildcats got a three-run homer from Sara Blossey with one out in the seventh to make it a 10-8 score.

Latrobe had 13 hits, including a 3-for-4 day from Blossey. Eight of its starters had at least one hit.

Williams, Corrine Wright and Sami Kronenwetter had two hits apiece, and Maddie Balko had two RBIs, one coming on a double off the fence in left.

“The (squeeze bunt) was a mental mistake on our part and smart on their part,” Wildcats coach Bob Kovalcin said. “We hit the ball about as well as we have all year, but we made two big errors that cost us.”

Franklin Regional, which still could have batted last, didn’t panic after Blossey’s shot over the right-field fence. Pitcher Chloe Lancaster recorded a strikeout and, after a single by Miley Williams, induced a flyout to end it.

“We’re starting to come around,” Armstrong said. “The girls are not afraid. We left too many on base, but we’re starting to hit the ball better.”

Seven Franklin Regional starters had at least one hit.

A three-run error in the third allowed the Panthers to go ahead 6-2. The Panthers scored four times in the frame.

“Every game it seems like we have that one bad inning,” Kovalcin said. “I know it’s getting late in the season, but we’re still learning how to win. We haven’t found our identity yet.”

Hicks’ hit in the fourth raised the advantage to 8-3.

Balko’s RBI double was followed by a run-scoring single by Mya McHugh to trim the deficit to 8-5 in the fifth.

If there is one thing you can count on from Franklin Regional, it is this: The Panthers will make opposing pitchers work.

In a 4-3 loss to Armstrong, the River Hawks’ Madison Baker threw 166 pitches. When the Panthers lost 8-7 to Penn-Trafford on Monday, Allyson Paulone threw 144.

In this game, Latrobe’s Kayla Williams threw 147.

Franklin Regional is now a game behind Latrobe for third place in the section. The top four teams make the WPIAL playoffs.

Franklin Regional hosts first-place Armstrong (11-1, 7-1) on Friday.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Latrobe