Hometown Softball Broadcast Recap for West Mifflin on 4/10/14

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, April 11, 2014 | 12:27 AM

Shannon Davis’ RBI single in the bottom of the 14th inning delivered West Mifflin (9-2, 4-2) a dramatic 8-7 win over rival Thomas Jefferson (7-3, 3-3) on Thursday evening at West Mifflin High School.

The game, one of the wildest and longest in the 2014 WPIAL season, took turn after turn, with five lead changes and five ties. West Mifflin was forced to overcome seven errors and three wild pitches and rallied from two different two-run deficits in extra innings to pull out the late win.

Senior Paige Flore pitched all 14 innings for the Titans, throwing 154 of her 199 pitches for strikes. The Slippery Rock recruit rung up 16 Jaguars batters on strikeouts and walked only two. Only one of the seven runs she allowed was earned.

After Thomas Jefferson’s Rachel Bowers scored on an error in the top of the first, West Mifflin would respond with three runs in the bottom half of the frame, as Jaguars pitcher Alysa Fairman would struggle with control early in the contest. Fairman, a Freshman, walked seven batters in over six innings of work, issuing three free passes and two of her three hits in the first inning. The big knock was Sophomore Amber Cook’s two-RBI single, one of her three hits in the contest.

The score would remain 3-1 until the top of the seventh inning. After a Bowers single, Janelle Allison would sky a two-out pitch to left field. Davis would drop the final out, opening the door for Thomas Jefferson. Emily Schneider would line a two-RBI single to left field in the next at-bat, tying the game at 3-3.

That tie score would be threatened, but hold until the 11th inning, when Thomas Jefferson would grab the lead on an error that scored Sydney Flinn and an RBI single by Bowers, who finished with a game-high four hits.

But West Mifflin would answer, plating two runs in the bottom of the 11th on an RBI single by Lauren Ackerman and an RBI double by Alyssa Cairns off of Thomas Jeffeson pitcher Lacie Lautner, who pitched over seven innings in relief of Fairman.

The Jaguars would again grab the lead in the 13th inning, as Flinn would advance to third and score on a pair of Flore wild pitches. After Lautner singled, she would come around and score on a pair of defensive errors by Titan fielders off of the bat of Bowers.

But yet again, West Mifflin would respond in clutch fashion, asKacey Larson and Flore would score on a two-RBI double by Cairns, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and three walks.

After Flore threw a 1-2-3 top of the 14th, it would be Davis, who opened the door for Thomas Jefferson with her error in the 7th, to deliver the winning hit, driving in Crystal Cook on a bloop single to center field, giving West Mifflin the 8-7 victory.

The two teams, who are battling in one of the WPIAL’s most competitive sections, AAA Section 3, will meet again in the regular season finale on May 5.

Tags: West Mifflin