Southmoreland softball team can’t generate offense in loss to Chestnut Ridge

By: Dave Mackall
Monday, June 5, 2023 | 9:19 PM

FISHERTOWN, Pa. — Southmoreland’s bats remained virtually silent in the postseason for a second time in a row Monday, and the Scotties’ softball season ended with a 4-1 loss to Chestnut Ridge in a PIAA Class 3A first-round game.

Chestnut Ridge (17-3), champion of District 5, moves on to play District 10 champion Jamestown in the quarterfinals on Thursday at a site and time to be announced.

“We haven’t been our normal selves at the plate,” Southmoreland coach Todd Bunner said. “We were indecisive in the box, and you can’t be that way against a good pitcher.”

Despite Amarah McCutcheon’s single to lead off the game and a walk one out later to Taylor Doppelheuer, WPIAL runner-up Southmoreland (17-4) failed to produce a run in the first inning and managed just two more hits against Chestnut Ridge sophomore Britni Motter, who finished with 11 strikeouts.

The Scotties also wasted Makayla Etling’s leadoff double in the fourth and got their only run in the sixth on Doppelheuer’s RBI single, scoring McCutcheon, who opened the inning by reaching on an error by Chestnut Ridge first baseman Natalie Short.

The Scotties entered the state playoffs after getting just three hits and striking out 14 times in a 5-1 loss to Avonworth four days earlier in the WPIAL championship game.

“This could very well have been a continuation of the last game,” Bunner said. “When you get to this part of the season, you’re not playing bad teams. You’re not seeing pitchers who are not good. You’ve got to be able to hit them. So it’s a continuation.”

Motter at one point early on struck out six consecutive Southmoreland batters and seven of the first nine. She ended the game fanning the Scotties’ final two batters in the top of the seventh.

Chestnut Ridge got all the offense it would need in the first inning on an unfortunate play for Southmoreland, when right-fielder Beatrix Pawlikowsky nearly made a running catch on Motter’s drive to the gap, but the ball popped out of her glove for an error and two runs scored.

“She had it in her glove and made a great effort to get to the ball,” Bunner said. “But when you make an error in the outfield and two runs score, that’s tough. It could’ve been a different game.”

Chestnut Ridge loaded the bases in the fourth and scored twice more on RBI singles by Maya Wingard and Alyssa Henderson against Maddie Brown, who gave up nine hits.

“Every run is important. It gives you a little flexibility in what you can call pitches-wise,” Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor said. “Now, one walk isn’t the biggest thing in the world. We can still use all of our pitches. The girls with the bats gave us that opportunity that we had a little breathing room and we could still use all her arsenal.”

With his team’s offense in a funk in the final two games, Bunner was hoping his young players could learn from it. The Scotties, heading into next season, lose just one senior, Brynn Charnesky.

Motter, like Avonwroth’s Alivia Lantzy in the WPIAL final, provided another lesson from the circle for Southmoreland’s hitting lineup, Bunner said.

“(Motter) had a riser that we shouldn’t have been swinging at,” he said. “We swung a few times when it wasn’t a strike. When you do that, she’s going to control the zone. She’s a good pitcher. We just didn’t hit her.”

It marked the second consecutive season that Southmoreland has bowed out of the PIAA playoffs in the first round. The Scotties opened the 2022 tournament with a 4-1 loss to Bald Eagle Area. They haven’t gone beyond since reaching the semifinals in 2018.

Tags: Southmoreland