Ellwood City Blasts Its Way to Second AA Softball Crown

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 3, 2016 | 10:25 PM

Throughout the spring, the long ball has become synonymous with Ellwood City softball. So it should really come as no surprise that it was a pair of blasts, numbers 17 and 18 this year, which lifted the Wolverines to their second WPIAL Softball Championship.

Reagen Miller hit a grand slam in the first inning and Camille Maine followed with a three-run home run in the following frame as No. 1 Ellwood City (20-0) ran away with a 10-0, five inning rout of No. 3 South Park (14-4) at California University of Pennsylvania’s Lilley Field on Friday.

“I knew we had the capabilities,” Ellwood City coach Gary Rozanski said. “I didn’t know that we’d do it right off the bat like that. It seems the last few weeks we put the hits together.”

Junior Skyla Greco moved to 20-0 this year in the circle, tossing a shortened complete game shutout for the Wolverines, striking out five batters while allowing just three hits.

It took little time for Ellwood City to jump out to a commanding lead. After an infield single, error and walk put three runners on base, Mittler turned on a pitch from South Park’s Justine Dean, sending the ball soaring over the center field fence. The two-out grand slam, Mittler’s second home run this year, gave the Wolverines and Greco a 4-0 cushion.

“I was just really, really nervous coming up with two outs and the bases loaded,” said Mittler. “The first (pitch) was inside and I don’t like inside pitches. But I just went for the second one.”

Ellwood City was not finished there. After Ariana Garroway delivered a two-out, run-scoring triple and Mallory Swogger walked, Maine fired off the knockout blow, launching the softball over the left-centerfield fence. The home run, Maine’s fourth of the year, pushed the Wolverines’ lead to 8-0.

“The grand slam right off the bat was a blow,” Rozanski said. “Then we shut them down and came right back with the three-run homer. That was huge.”

Oddly enough, Dean, a junior, did not start the game, as South Park (14-4) coach Larry Mercurio had senior Angela Shine throw one pitch before substituting Dean into the game. Doing so allowed South Park to be able to pinch run for Dean three times in the game, if necessary.

But Maine’s bomb would be it for Dean, as Mercurio elected to have Shine go back into the circle, ending Dean’s day after 1.2 innings in which she allowed eight runs on six hits.

Ellwood City would push the lead to 10-0 after an error by South Park’s Cassandra Scanlon allowed two runs to score. Despite allowing four baserunners after that, Greco was able to escape the jams, ending the game in five innings.

The win is Ellwood City’s second in the WPIAL Championship Game, first since 2008 and the second title win for their region this week, after Riverside High School’s win in the AA Baseball Championship on Tuesday.

“It’s awesome,” Rozanski said. “Everybody’s been talking about it. Riverside’s baseball team just won the WPIAL (AA Championship). They’re right there. To bring two (trophies) back, it says a lot about a small town.”

The Wolverines had to overcome an injury to senior centerfielder Allie McKelvey, who awkwardly fell into first base on an infield single in the first inning. But junior Eisabella Miller was able to come in an fill the void in the field.

“We have 13 or 14 that can play at any time,” Rozanski said. “She was a major piece of getting here, so we’ll just savor the moment right now.”

Ellwood City now advances to the PIAA AA Softball Playoffs as the top seed from District 7. The Wolverines will meet District 6 runner up Bald Eagle Area on Monday at 2:00pm at North Allegheny High School.

South Park got three hits from three different players. With multiple NCAA Division 1 recruits on their roster, the Eagles will still be in good shape to make a deep state playoff run, as they will travel to Penn State Behrend on Monday to battle Northwestern High School at 1:00pm.