Knights fall short in softball slugfest
WEXFORD — Knoch was a No. 12 seed entering the WPIAL Class 4A softball tournament. It was also facing a fifth-seeded Montour squad sporting a .450 team batting average.
Knights coach Gary Coe disregarded those facts.
“If we make the routine plays in the field, we win,” Coe said.
Knoch committed six errors, leading to seven unearned runs, as Montour (13-4) came away with an 11-9 victory in a first-round playoff game Wednesday at North Allegheny High School. The Spartans pounded out 14 hits in the win.
The biggest came off the bat of leadoff hitter Mia Arndt, who drilled a two-out, two-run homer to center in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap a 9-9 tie.
“We’ve hit the ball well all season,” Montour coach Ken Kutchman said. “Today was no exception. But they (Knoch) did a nice job of squaring the barrel of the bat against our pitcher, too.”
Coe acknowledged Montour’s hitting prowess, adding that “when you add our errors to that, it’s awfully hard to win.
“Errors have hurt us all year. We’d play a couple of good games, then have a bad one like that. That’s been our trend. It definitely got us today.”
The Knights (9-10) had won four of five games entering the playoffs. They showed a bit of offense of their own Wednesday.
Walks to Sophie Brandon and Carissa Tekely opened Knoch’s second inning. Brynne Smith bunted the runners up a base and Grace Hensch doubled into the left-center gap to plate the runners. Madi Gardner walked and Brynnae Coe added a two-run double of her own for a 4-0 lead.
Montour cut the lead to 4-3 after three innings before taking the lead with a four-run fourth. The Knights committed two errors in the frame, but the big blow was a two-run homer to center by Avrie Polo, her sixth of the season.
Trailing 7-4, Knoch struck back with a five-run fifth. Smith had a RBI single, Gardner a two-run single and Coe a two-out, three-run homer to right-center for a 9-7 Knights lead. The ball caromed off the top of the fence and left the park.
“With two outs and runners in scoring position, I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Brynnae said. “When I saw it bounce off the fence and out ... I was just so excited.”
“We fought back. These girls never gave up,” Coach Coe said.
But they couldn’t hang on.
Breanna Pies delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth and Giacinta Labrie drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs as the Spartans tied the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, No. 9 hitter Kylie Ross doubled to left, setting up Arndt’s heroics.
“This was a wild game, back and forth,” Kutchman said. “But one thing I know our team is gonna do is hit, hit, hit.”
Arndt had four hits and three RBI for the Spartans, who won for the sixth time in seven games. All but one player in Montour’s lineup scored a run and seven different players had hits.
Brynnae Coe had a homer, double, single and five RBI to lead the Knights. Sennett Purcell had two singles. Coe pitched the first four innings, Sylvia Luffy the last two.
“We really grew as a team this year,” Brynnae said. “It’s tough to lose this way, but I saws a lot of growth in a lot of players and that was fun.”
Coe, Taylor Davis and Brandon are Knoch’s seniors. The Knights made the WPIAL playoffs in each of their past three seasons.
Knoch0400500 — 9116
Montour 021422x — 11142
W: Kaitlyn Molitoris 7IP (4K, 4BB). L: Sylvia Luffy 2IP (0K, 2BB)
Knoch (9-10): Madi Gardner 1B RBI 2-R, Brynnae Coe HR 2B 1B 5-RBI, Lindsay Edwards 1B, Taylor Davis 1B, Sennett Purcell 2-1B, Sophie Brandon 1B, Carissa Tekely 2-R, Brynne Smith 1B RBI, Grace Hensch 2B 2-RBI
Montour (13-4): Mia Arndt 3-1B HR 3-RBI 2-R, Breanna Pies 2-1B RBI, Avrie Polo HR 2-1B 2-RBI, Angelina Lamarca 2-1B 2-R, Giacinta Labrie 1B RBI, Jana Hess 1B RBI, Kylie Ross 2B 2-R
