Greensburg Central Catholic softball ousted via mercy rule vs. Bishop Canevin
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Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | 6:35 PM
Bishop Canevin’s Bree Bazeck celebrates after scoring against Greensburg Central Catholic during first round WPIAL A Softball action at Fox Chapel Area High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Laura Kondas is tagged out by Bishop Canevin’s Hanna Delisio during first round WPIAL A Softball action at Fox Chapel Area High School.
Bishop Canevin’s Bella DeMark scores behind Greensburg Central Catholic’s Anna Vitale during first round WPIAL A Softball action at Fox Chapel Area High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic catcher Anna Vitale makes a catch on a ball hit by Bishop Canevin’s Alyssa Pollice.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Bella Skatell takes second base under Taylor Lokaitis Bishop Canevin’s during first round WPIAL A Softball action at Fox Chapel Area High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic starting pitcher Bella Skatell throws against Bishop Canevin during first round WPIAL A Softball action at Fox Chapel Area High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Sarah Orndoff makes a running catch on a ball hit by Bishop Canevin’s Alysha Cutri during a first-round game at Fox Chapel.
Bishop Canevin coach Karen Seitz-LaFianza said she wasn’t nervous about Tuesday’s WPIAL Class A first-round game, and neither were her young Crusaders.
With three freshmen starting their first playoff game, the Crusaders didn’t blink.
They took advantage of three walks and an error in the opening inning and rolled to a 13-3 victory against Greensburg Central Catholic at Fox Chapel. The game was stopped in the sixth inning because of the 10-run rule.
The victory sends No. 8 Bishop Canevin (7-5) to the quarterfinals against No. 1 seed and three-time defending WPIAL champion West Greene on Monday at a site and time to be determined.
Winning pitcher Alysha Cutri, a freshman, drove in four runs, and Brenna Nolf, the only senior starting, drove in four for Bishop Canevin, which had 12 hits.
But it was early wildness from Greensburg Central Catholic pitcher Bella Skatell that put the Crusaders in a good position. The GCC senior walked seven and hit a batter.
“Maybe the players that had never played in the playoffs were nervous,” Seitz-LaFianza said. “I wasn’t. We have a lot of good contact hitters.
“You have to put the ball in play and force teams to make plays. When we hit, we can be decent.”
No. 9 Greensburg Central Catholic (9-8) got a run in the third inning when senior Anna Vitale singled home Skatell.
Bishop Canevin tacked on three runs in the fourth inning to make it 6-1, but GCC got another run when Vitale drove in Skatell again, then Sara Orndoff scored on an error to make it 6-3.
“They hit the ball well and capitalized on our mistakes,” GCC coach Mike Gaffney said. “We had our opportunities, but we didn’t get the timely hits.
“This was a tough way to end, but I’m not disappointed. Greensburg Central Catholic is back on the map. We have a lot of players returning.”
Bishop Canevin put the game out of reach with five runs with two outs in the fifth inning and then ended the game with a pair of runs in the sixth.
Cutri allowed six hits, walked one and struck out four. Mia Mazak had two hits for GCC.
Bella DeMark, who drove in the 13th run, had three hits and two RBIs. Nolf had three hits, including a triple, and Cutri and Maddie Maziarz had doubles.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Bishop Canevin, Greensburg C.C.
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