JACKSON TWP — The North Allegheny Tigers did a lot of chasing Friday afternoon, but they never did catch Seneca Valley.

The Raiders plated five first-inning runs and never trailed in a 9-4 softball win on their home field.

“Give credit to Seneca Valley,” said Tigers' coach Rick Meister. “They had clutch hits and got clutch pitching. They kept us from doing what we needed to do.”

The Raiders' early ambush began when two of their first three batters — Jess Neill and Aubrey Baehr — reached on a bunt-single and walk, respectively, against NA starting pitcher Sami Beining.

Run-scoring doubles from Alexa Sisko and Julia Zezinka were sandwiched around Sarah Blagg's two-run single. Later in the inning, Paige Foley smacked an RBI-double that gave the hosts a 5-0 lead.

Though NA would end the game with four runs on eight hits, SV's offensive outburst in the first inning would be enough for SV junior pitcher Nikki Matz.

“You give Nikki a five-run lead, she's usually going to get you the win,” said Raiders' coach George Trew.

“Getting a big lead early definitely takes the pressure off of me, especially against a team like NA because they are always competitive,” said Matz.

Beining threw a lot of pitches in the first two frames and was relieved by Madi Beining at the start of the third inning.

“She (Sami) was leaving pitches up in the zone,” Meister said. “You can't do that against a team like Seneca.”

The Tigers (4-1, 1-1) scored a run in the second and another in the third to trim their deficit to 5-2, but they had chances to make more noise later on and Matz shut the door on them.

With her team leading 6-2 in the top of the fourth frame, Matz struck out Anna Sardon and Laura Cotter to leave runners at second and third.

NA loaded the bases in the next inning thanks to singles from Christine Scherer, Mary Funderlich and Casey Ginocchi. With two outs, Matz induced Emily Hogan to ground out to end the threat.

“I would like her to not get in those jams,” Trew said of Matz, laughing, “but she is more than capable of getting out of them.”

“If I get flustered, it's hard for me to make the pitches I need to make,” said Matz, who pitched a six-inning no-hitter in a win at Fox Chapel on Thursday. “So I just trust in the defense behind me to make plays. They did today.”

Matz ended the game with five strikeouts and four walks.

SV (2-0, 2-0) scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Sisko's infield single drove in Elayna Nagy and Blagg tallied her second two-run single of the day.

The extra offense helped ease the blow from Funderlich's two-run home run in the top of the seventh frame.

Matz responded by retiring the next three batters to end the game.

Blagg ended the game with three singles and four RBI.

Sisko added two hits, two runs scored and two more batted in and Foley two doubles to go with a run scored and one RBI.

“We hit the ball well today,” said Trew. “Even when we were making outs, we were putting the ball in play.”

North Allegheny 011 000 2 — 4 8 0

Seneca Valley 501 003 x — 9 14 2

W: Nikki Matz 7IP (5K, 4BB). L: Sami Beining 2IP (2K, 2BB).

North Allegheny (4-1, 1-1): Laura Cotter 2B R, Christine Scherer 2-1B, Mary Funderlich 2-1B HR 3RBI, Liz Scherer R, Casey Ginocchi 1B, Emily Hogan 2B RBI, Olivia Schweiger R

Seneca Valley (2-0, 2-0): Jess Neill 2-1B R, Aubrey Baehr 1B 2R, Alexa Sisko 1B 2B 2R 2RBI, Sarah Blagg 3-1B 4RBI, Julia Zezinka 2B R RBI, Nikki Matz 1B, Paige Foley 2-2B R RBI, Elayna Nagy 2-1B R RBI, Tori Pfab R

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Shaler