Hometown Softball Program Game Recap – Vincentian Academy – 04/24/2012

By: Bruce Markey
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | 9:15 PM

Despite a furious late inning comeback, #5-ranked Vincentian (3-2, 6-4) came up just short in a 6-5 loss to #2-ranked Sto-Rox (8-0, 12-0) in WPIAL Class A Section 3 action earlier today at the Vincentian Athletic Complex in McCandless.

The Royals remain firmly in control of the third and final 3-A playoff spot, two full games in front of fourth place North Catholic (2-5, 3-6) , while Sto-Rox can sew up its 26th section championship with a win at Sewickley Academy on Thursday.

The Vikings struck first in the top of the first inning, benefitting from two Vincentian errors to tally two unearned runs. The Royals quickly evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning. A double to left field by Katie Yauch scored Ashlee Darby with Vincentian’s first run.  Yauch then came around to score on a single by Zonia Moore.

The score remained the same until the top of the fifth inning when the wheels came off of the Royals’ defense. After two quick outs, the next six Sto-Rox batters reached base on a combination of four Vincentian fielding errors and two walks, leading to a 6-2 Vikings’ lead.

The Royals’ offense again bounced back, however, with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Darby tripled and was again driven in by Yauch, this time on a ground out to the shortstop. After Moore singled with one out in the sixth inning, back-to-back doubles by Vincentian’s Noreen Fischer and Natilie Milas cut the Sto-Rox advantage to one run.

The home team made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning, but could not plate the tying run even though three Vincentian players were able to reach base safely.

“We did respond, but didn’t quite squeak it out,” said Royals’ head coach Kara Stroup.

It was the first time this season that Sto-Rox, the only undefeated Class A team remaining in the WPIAL, lost a game by only one run. Vincentian also played the Vikings very tough eight days ago, losing 5-3 at Sto-Rox in another closely contested game.

Darby, the squad’s lead-off batter and shortstop, led the Vincentian offensive effort, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Yauch and Moore both chipped in with 2-for-4 efforts.

Talia Smarra was the winning pitcher for Sto-Rox, giving up five runs, all earned, on ten hits, while striking out seven and walking one batter. Bridget Melvin, a senior, was the hard-luck losing pitcher, giving up six unearned runs on just three hits. She struck out five batters and walked four. Melvin also held the potent Sto-Rox offense hitless over the last five innings of the game.

Vincentian will be very busy the remainder of this week with two double-headers scheduled against Cornell on Thursday and a pivotal meeting with second place Sewickley Academy (5-1, 6-3) on Saturday.

“We can take the momentum from battling back today and beat these other teams,” said Melvin after the game.

Tags: Vincentian Academy