FOX CHAPEL — The Seneca Valley softball team has prided itself on making minimal mistakes in the field this season.

That normally staunch defense was shaky against Latrobe in the WPIAL quad-A quarterfinals at Fox Chapel Monday afternoon.

The Raiders made an uncharacteristic five errors that led to all three Latrobe runs in a 3-2 loss.

“We made too many errors today. They didn’t have an earned run in the game,” lamented Seneca Valley coach George Trew. “When you give someone three runs and you’re not hitting the ball like you are used to, it comes up and gets ya.”

Seneca Valley (13-3) came into the game on a hot streak at the plate, scoring 10 or more runs in four of its last six contests.

But Latrobe freshman pitcher Meredith Carr kept the Raiders in check for most of the game, striking out six and not issuing a walk in the victory.

Latrobe gave her two runs in the bottom of the first inning, keyed by two Seneca Valley errors.

That score stood until the top of the seventh when the Raiders finally got to Carr with four hits and scored two runs on RBI singles by Nikki Matz and Alyssa Panza to deadlock the game at 2-2.

First-year Latrobe coach Alexa Bryson went out to the circle twice during the inning to calm her pitcher.

“(Seneca Valley is) a good team. They put the ball in play and made us work,” Bryson said. “(Carr) did what we asked her to do. If you limit a team to two runs, you are doing pretty well.”

Latrobe (15-4) didn’t commit an error behind Carr and made some very difficult plays look routine.

“I’ve always said pitching and defense win games,” Bryson said. “They’ve kept us in a lot of games this year. It’s wonderful to know that when there’s a ground ball, it’s an automatic out.”

Matz pitched well for the Raiders, limiting Latrobe to just five singles and zero earned runs.

“She came back after that first inning and calmed down and pitched very well,” Trew said. “In all honesty, in that first inning we gave up two we shouldn’t have. When you do that against a good team, it’s a struggle.”

After Seneca Valley rallied to tie the game, two throwing errors around a sacrifice bunt ended the game for the Wildcats.

“I always tell them, ‘You make it interesting,’” Bryson said. “They made it interesting, but a win’s a win and I couldn’t be happier with them.”

Julia Zezinka singled and doubled for Seneca Valley.

The loss brought to the end the careers for a slew of Raider seniors.

“They are a great, great bunch,” Trew said. “Sarah (Blagg) has been a starting catcher for us for four years now. Most of the others have been starting for three years. Great bunch of girls. We’re going to miss them. They have been great to this program and done a lot for this program.

“We’ll bounce back,” Trew added. “We have a bunch of good young players coming up. And we had some on the varsity who played real well this year. So, we’ll be alright. We’ll be back fighting again next year.”

Seneca Valley 000 000 2 — 2 8 5

Latrobe 200 000 1 — 3 5 0

One out when winning run scored

W: Meredith Carr 7IP (6K, 0BB). L: Nikki Matz 6.1IP (1K, 2BB).

Seneca Valley (13-3): Jess Neill 1B, Elayna Nagy 1B, Julia Zezinka 1B 2B, Matz 1B RBI, Alyssa Panza 1B RBI, Alexa Sisko 1B, Sarah Blagg 1B

Latrobe (15-4): Alexus Fearer 1B, Micaela Zoppetti 1B, Ashley Perillo 1B RBI, Madeline Stein 2-1B