Wellsboro scores late to advance to D4 final.
By: The Review | Towanda Daily Review | June 1, 2016
2016 NTL and District 4 News
Wellsboro used a late rally to beat Loyalsock 2-1 to reach the District IV, Class AA final Tuesday.
Northeast Bradford (Class A) and Athens (Class AAA) both lost in their semi-final games.
Wellsboro 2, Loyalsock 1
TURBOTVILLE — Senior Sarah Ingerick wasn't ready to be done with her softball season just yet.
Down 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Wellsboro needed not just a timely hit but a big one and Ingerick delivered.
With Jenny Young on first base, Ingerick hit a one-out triple to centerfield that scored Young and knotted the game up at 1-1.
Ingerick then scored on an error off the bat of Darci Warriner and that's all the Hornets needed to pull off the win.
"It's really nice being senior year," said Ingerick. "This is what we have been working toward all season. So special to do this two years in a row."
Once she made contact Ingerick knew it was the hit they needed.
"I just saw the ball go past her and I was off," she explained. "I knew Jenny was quick in front of me and she would score and I was happy about that."
Ingerick wasn't looking for a big hit, just to do something as time was running out.
"I knew she was pitching me inside to start with then outside," she said. "I was just trying to put it in play."
Loyalsock started off with a bang as lead-off batter Kendall Watkins hit a home run to put the Lancers up 1-0.
But Wellsboro pitcher Alyssa Yungwirth settled in from there.
"I didn't really put too much thought into it because it was the beginning of the game and the first batter," she said. "I just knew I had to pitch better."
Yungwirth finished the game with 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits and two walks.
But she did find trouble later in the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Loyalsock's Sam Stopper led off with a double, the only other hit Yungwirth gave up.
After a strikeout, an error on Yungwirth put Lancers on second and third with one out.
"I kind of messed up there, obviously," Yungwirth said about the miscue.
However, she followed that up by striking out Katie Welker then getting Elizabeth Hailer to pop out to end the inning.
"I refocused and got a strikeout," explained Yungwirth.
While getting the lead just before then instilled a lot of confidence in Ingerick — "I knew we had it in the game" — she was nervous when the Lancers put two runners in scoring position.
"They were definitely pretty high," said Ingerick. "My heart was pretty fast but Lyssi calmed me down with that strikeout."
Kayla Gee was strong for Loyalsock in the circle as well, striking out eight while allowing four hits.
Along with Ingerick, Young, Warriner and Brianne Keane also had hits.
Wellsboro will now face Milton at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Moser Complex as they defend their district title. Milton defeated Central Columbia 3-2 in extra innings.
This is a rematch of last year's final.
"I am super excited," exclaimed Ingerick. "I wish it was Thursday already."
Benton 4, Northeast Bradford 0
TURBOTVILLE — The Panthers weren't able to solve Benton pitcher Elizabeth Schaffer as they fell in the District IV, Class A softball semi-finals Tuesday.
Schaffer finished with 14 strikeouts while allowing just five hits and one walk.
NEB's Megan Brown did well against her, going 3-for-4, but her teammates went a combined 2-for-23 as Annie Williams and McKenzie Haight had the other hits.
Schaffer did damage on offense as well, going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored.
Hitting behind her in the line-up Dominique Brown was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored.
Dana Kingsbury added a double and scored.
That amounted to all of Benton's hits as those three went 5-for-9 while the rest of the team was 0-for-16.
NEB's Gabby Slater was tough in the loss, striking out seven with just the five hits and no walks. Three of the four runs were earned.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as Kingsbury hit a 1-out double, then got hit in on a Schaffer single.
Schaffer then scored on an error to make it 2-0.
Benton then got two more runs in the seventh as back-to-back lead-off doubles by Schaffer and Brown scored a run.
Brown then scored on a Sadie Huntingdon sacrifice bunt for the 4-0 final.
NEB's best chance to score came in the fifth as they had runners on the corners with one out but back to back strikeouts by Schaffer ended that threat.
All told, nine NEB runners were left on base.
Jersey Shore 9, Athens 3
TURBOTVILLE — The Wildcats couldn't overcome a rough start in their District IV, Class AAA loss Tuesday.
They out hit the Bulldogs 9-7 and had less errors 4-2 but Jersey Shore had more power, getting four extra base hits to Athens' one.
Jersey Shore came out of the gates strong, scoring four runs in the first inning.
They added another run in the third, then scored four more in the fourth to make it 9-0.
Athens got on the scoreboard in the fifth with two runs, then added their third in the sixth.
Hannah Reid (2-for-4), Emma Adams (2-for-4) and Lexi Morley (2-for-3) all had multiple hits for the Wildcats.
Morley's included a double while she and Reid also scored.
Kaitlyn Testen, Aubrey Allen and Reagan Lynch also had hits. Allen had an RBI while Testen scored.
Adams scored the loss, striking out four while allowing seven hits, six walks and seven earned runs out of the nine.
She threw a total of 112 pitches in her first district game.
Katie Cowfer led Jersey Shore, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI. Shelbie Wenner had a double with two runs and 3 RBIs and Lydia Yorks had a triple with 2 RBIs.
Cowfer earned the win, striking out two while allowing nine hits and no walks. Two of the three runs were earned as she threw 104 pitches.
