Early deficit fatal
BROCKWAY — The errors, both physical and mental, kept coming. Then the hits. Then the runs.
By the time the Moniteau softball team had a chance to exhale after a string of bad bounces and bad plays, the Warriors were looking at an 11-1 third-inning deficit against Everett in the first round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs at Brockway HighMonday afternoon.
Moniteau, adept at rallying from big deficits before, found this one too large and too daunting, eventually succumbing to Everett 14-3 in five innings.
"It's always disappointing," said Moniteau coach Danny Hindman. "You have to make plays in the field and we didn't do that today. And 14-3 is the score. It shows."
Seven errors in the second and third innings led to seven unearned runs against Moniteau pitcher Maura McCaslin, who was also feeling the squeeze from the home plate umpire.
"It seems like whenever you get to this level, the strike zone gets a little bit tighter," Hindman said. "If you aren't able to hit your spots and change speeds, you're in trouble."
Even with a 10-run lead, Everett coach Junior Bennett wasn't going to leave anything to chance.
The veteran coach was familiar with Moniteau's last win, a 6-5 comeback victory over Kane in the District 9 championship game, and didn't want to become a victim of another fantastic finish.
Everett continued to bunt and continued to stay aggressive on the base paths."Bunt. Steal," Bennett said. "That's the name of the game now. I kept telling them, 'We have to keep ahead. We have to keep ahead.'"It was the second straight year in whichMoniteau lost toEverett in the first round of the state playoffs. The Warriors fell 6-1 in 2007Everett came into this game with six experienced seniors. Moniteau had no seniors in the starting lineup."Some of it can be chalked up to youth," Hindman said. "And some of it can be chalked up to desire. Only the girls can answer that. Only they can say, 'Did I put my best foot forward?'"Hopefully it is a good learning experience. This is a whole different level of ball."There were some bright spots for Moniteau.Ashley Pisor doubled and scored in the second inning and also drove in a run with a sharp single in the third inning."Ashley has been flying underneath the radar," Hindman said. "She's been doing that all season for us. She didn't get all-conference and all that stuff, but she's probably the most fundamental girl on the team."McCaslin also had a good day at the plate and on the bases. She singled and scored two runs, including a delayed steal of home in the fifth inning that gave the Moniteau fans a rare chance to cheer.Everyone, except for the lone senior, Sam Armbuster, will return next season to a program that has won two consecutive district titles."I think it was an overachievement this year, as far as the district goes," Hindman said. "I felt there were several good teams in the district, Kane being one of them, and they rose to that occasion. Hats off to them for that."<B>Everett 065 12x x—14 12 1Moniteau 011 01x x— 3 6 7W:</B> Brittany Decker 5 IP (5 K, 1 BB). <B>L:</B> Maura McCaslin 5 IP (2 K, 3 BB).<B>Everett (14-4):</B> Amy Miller 1B, RBI; Kayla Nave 1B; Sara Clark 1B, RBI; Andrea Layton 1B, 3B,RBI; Macy Foor 3-1B, 3-RBI; Morgan Barkrow 1B; Amanda Clark 2-1B; Jesse Beegle 1B, RBI<B>Moniteau (13-3):</B> McCaslin 1B, 2-R; Alex Guercio 2-1B; Ashley Pisor 2B, 1B, RBI; Jaryn Beatty 1B
