West Mifflin uses long ball, 10-run inning to break open close game, down Ringgold

By: Don Rebel
Monday, April 7, 2025 | 10:40 PM

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For most of the chilly afternoon Monday, West Mifflin pitcher Rylie Dobnak was starring in the circle and not at the plate.

That changed with one mighty swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth inning as the junior smacked a three-run homer that invoked the mercy-rule in a 12-0 West Mifflin victory over Ringgold in five innings.

The win keeps the Titans in first place in Section 2-4A with a 3-0 record and improves them to 5-3 overall with a third straight victory.

Dobnak was throwing a no-hitter but was 0 for 3 at the plate when she homered deep over the left-field fence.

“I’d rather have the home run,” Dobnak answered when asked if she’d rather throw a no-hitter or hit a home run. “I hadn’t been hitting the whole game, so that really felt good. I haven’t had a hit like that ever in a game, so that felt good to have that finally.”

Winless Ringgold (0-3, 0-9) kept the game close for the first three innings.

West Mifflin scored twice in the first inning on an RBI single by junior Kayleigh Tatters to score sophomore Taylor Krivanek. Tatters then scored on a run-producing single by sophomore Adilee Salopek.

Rams pitcher Annie Pelissero then settled down and kept the Titans scoreless until the fourth inning.

“I thought we had very undisciplined at-bats until that fourth inning,” West Mifflin coach Erik Hilligsberg said. “We were jumping out of our stance, chasing bad pitches and mishitting some balls. They have to be more disciplined, but they’re a young team and that comes with more time.”

The two-run lead looked strong, though, as Dobnak dominated in the circle. She ended up pitching four innings, allowing no runs, no hits and two walks while striking out six Ringgold batters.

“Pitching was great,” Hilligsberg said of Dobnak. “She’s had some arm soreness throughout this season, so we’ve kind of been managing that, but she’s battled through and toughs it out. She’s a gamer, and she’s been great when she’s been out there in the circle.”

The Titans would remember the bottom of the fourth inning as they turned a tight game into a laugher with 10 unearned runs.

The first run of that wild inning was generated by Tatters, who walked, went to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a throw that bounced into left field.

For the game, she singled and walked three times in four plate appearances, scoring three runs and driving home one.

“Kayleigh has done a great job since she’s been here. She’s been starting in center field the last three years and whether it’s getting hits, taking walks or being hit by pitches, she always finds a way to get on base.”

The inning should have ended with the score 3-0, but with two outs and nobody on, a popup to the pitcher was dropped and the floodgates for Ringgold opened up.

Following the error, sophomore Adilee Salopek began a barrage of five straight hits with her second hit of the game, a run-scoring double.

“Just trying to be confident and get on base any way I can,” Salopek said. “Sit on the ball, wait on it and drive it. It feels good (to) get everyone in the dugout really excited because I thought we were (kind of flat), but then everybody got up.”

The Dobnak home run capped off the big inning that put the Titans comfortably up, 12-0.

“They gave us four or five outs that inning, and we turned it into 10 runs and most of it was with two outs,” Hilligsberg said. “That inning should have ended a lot sooner than it did, but it was nice to see them string some hits together and start barreling some balls up.”

Following the long bottom of the fourth inning, Dobnak was lifted for freshman Annabele Graham, who gave up the Rams’ only hit, a single by Addison Jenkins, before retiring the final three Ringgold hitters to end the game via the 10-run rule.

West Mifflin sits in first place with a very young team. Monday’s lineup consisted of four juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen.

“I think we have a lot of experienced players,” Dobnak said. “Just about everyone that starts plays travel ball, so we all get a lot of reps. Even though a lot of us are young, I think we all do a pretty good job of owning our role and stepping up when it’s our time to shine.”

Tags: Ringgold, West Mifflin