Wellsboro walks-off with win, advances to D4 final.
By: Brian Fees | Towanda Daily Review | May 27, 2015 | Photo courtesy Brian Fees
2015 NTL and District 4 News
TURBOTVILLE - A year ago Wellsboro's season ended in the District 4, Class AA semifinals with a loss to Central Columbia.
One year later it appeared the same thing might be happening again when Central took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
That's when Jenny Young and Peyton Wilson came up with two of the biggest hits of the year to give the Green Hornets a 5-4 walk-off win and a trip to the Class AA final.
"It was really exciting, I think it was well deserved, I feel like we worked hard this season," Young said. "It's just exciting."
In the seventh inning Young led off with a triple and Wilson, who has struggled recently, came to the plate and delivered an RBI double. Alyssa Yungwirth then hit a ball that Central committed an error on, allowing Wilson to score the winning run.
"Like our coaches have always said, we have been in those positions, whether it is travel league or high school ball," Wilson said. "We know how to handle those situations."
While she has struggled recently Wellsboro coach Greg Carr kept Wilson in the lineup and on Tuesday she delivered.
"She had been struggling, Peyton had been struggling for a while," Carr said. "It was my choice to leave her in there. They have had so much experience. Our high school team is our travel ball team. They have 300-400 games under their belt from travel ball.
"If you take and throw a freshman in there that doesn't have the same experience you probably aren't going to get the same result. Even if the senior has been struggling for a while, just that time you spent it has to be more beneficial for you going into those circumstances to come through."
Central started fast with a run in the top of the first, but Young led off with a walk and scored in the bottom of the first and in the second Darci Warriner walked and with two outs Young reached on an error and Yungwirth walked. Sarah Ingerick then hit a ball that glanced off the shortstop's glove bringing home Warriner and Young.
"She has been getting robbed here lately with great swings of the bat, like today she put one out to right center and the girl made a heck of a play," Carr said. "The last few games she has just been roping it and it's been finding someone's glove. I was happy to see a ball finally got through, she was happy about it."
Central got a run back in the fourth, tied it in the sixth and took the lead in the seventh before Wellsboro rallied in the bottom of the seventh.
Alexa Singer started on the mound for the Green Hornets, striking out one in five innings and Yungwirth pitched the final two innings.
Carr decided to go with his upperclassmen in the big game against the defending state champions.
"She felt the nerves too," Carr said. "I could tell she wasn't as sharp and poppy as she usually is. But, if you can get into the fourth or fifth inning and we can bring in our freshman then you have another pitcher showing a different look to their hitters."
Yungwirth got the win, despite having her 42-inning shutout streak end.
Carr feels like the nerves of playing a team like Central Columbia in a district semi had an impact on his freshman pitcher.
"It think it showed with our freshman coming in, she was as nervous as I have ever seen her," he said. "She pitched great last time we played, an absolutely tremendous game. Today there were some nerves and the only cure for that, and it should never really go away, because you always should have it, it shows you care, is experience, experience, experience."
Along with the triple by Young and double by Wilson the Green Hornets got a hit from Baylea Lehman in the game. Young scored three times and Warriner and Wilson scored runs in the game.
The Green Hornets take on Milton, who beat CMVT 11-1 in six innings, in the final at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Turbotville.
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