JACKSON TWP — When it comes to the chase for a WPIAL playoff spot, the Seneca Valley softball team has dug itself into a hole.

That rut is now even deeper following the Raiders' Section 3 meeting with North Allegheny on Wednesday.

Tiger junior pitcher Sami Beining held the Raiders to six hits as NA left Raider Field with a 4-1 win.

Beining allowed just one baserunner in the first four innings, on Ashley Kappeler's single in the second frame, and ended the contest with five strikeouts and no walks.

“Seneca Valley is a good team, they've just had some bad luck,” said Tiger coach Rick Meister. “To pitch effectively against them, you have to hit your spots and she (Beining) did that today.”

The Raiders fell to 2-5 in section play. If the team is to make the postseason, it must start stacking victories immediately.

“We need to start doing what we're capable of,” said SV coach George Trew. “That's the problem, we just are not playing up to our potential.”

Trailing 4-0, the Raiders' bats awoke in the bottom of the fifth inning with three straight singles from Sarah Blagg, Kappeler and Paige Foley.

Foley's hit fell just in front of NA right fielder, Anna Sardon, but the latter was able to recover in time to get a force out at second base. Still, the Raiders had runners on first and third and just one out. But Beining struck out Julia Zezinka and got Sammy Crilley to ground out to end the threat.

In the bottom of the seventh, Blagg reached base with a one-out single, stole second and moved to third on Kappeler's base hit. After Beining retired Foley via a popout, Blagg scored on a wild pitch to avoid the shutout, but Zezinka struck out to end the game.

Crilley started in the circle for the Raiders and pitched the entire game. SV committed five errors behind her, leading to two of the four runs she allowed being unearned.

“I thought she pitched well,” Trew said of Crilley, a junior right-hander. “The thing is, our girls are capable of making all the plays that the errors occurred on.”

The first costly miscue came in the top of the first when a throwing error allowed Laura Cotter to score the game's first run.

Cotter then drove in teammate Emily Hogan with a base hit in the second. NA added an unearned run in the fourth and an earned tally in the fifth.

Kappeler, a sophomore first baseman, was a bright spot for the Raiders, going 3-for-3 with three singles.

“She now has eight hits in her last four games,” said Trew. “She's been improving all year.”

Cotter and Mary Funderlich both had three hits for the Tigers (7-1, 7-1).

North Allegheny 110 110 0 — 4 11 0

Seneca Valley 000 000 1 — 1 6 5

W: Sami Beining 7 IP (5K, 0BB). L: Sammy Crilley 7 IP (0K, 0BB).

North Allegheny (7-1, 7-1): Laura Cotter 3-1B R RBI, Mary Funderlich 2-1B 2B R, Erica Jelinek 1B, Emily Hogan 1B R, Anna Sardon 2-1B R, Casey Ginocchi 1B RBI

Seneca Valley (2-5, 2-5): Sarah Blagg 2-1B R, Ashley Kappeler 3-1B, Paige Foley 1B

Today: Fox Chapel at Seneca Valley