Elizabeth Forward wins section title softball showdown with Yough

By: Jeremy Sellew
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 | 1:53 AM

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For the third straight season, Elizabeth Forward reigns at the top of Section 2-4A.

It took a week to conclude it, but the Warriors picked up a 5-0 shutout win over visiting Yough to clinch the section title behind great pitching from Shelby Telegedy and clutch hitting from one of its senior stars.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We lost to them our first day back from Florida, and we told them that we were going to expect 11 wins in a row from there,” EF coach Harry Rutherford said. “And here we are, 11 wins later.”

Telegdy was strong in the circle, as the sophomore allowed the powerful Yough lineup only six hits. The Cougars (12-2, 10-2) had their chances but ended up leaving nine runners on base.

“When we had our chances, we just couldn’t execute,” Yough coach Dutch Harvey said. “I think in these last three innings today, we had second and third and couldn’t drive any home. You can’t do that against a team like them.”

The game started May 3 but was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning due to thunderstorms and a tornado warning.

The Warriors were able to stake themselves to a 2-0 lead behind solo home runs from Telegdy and Bella Gimiliano before the delay.

The game continued with Alivia Grimm on second base and nobody out, and the Warriors took advantage.

The Cougars committed a pair of errors, one by first baseman Abbey Zuraw and another by Emma Augustine, that helped the Warriors (14-2, 12-1) plate three runs right off the bat.

Maddisyn Best bunted the ball to start things off. The ball was fielded by Augustine, but Zuraw pulled her foot from the bag trying to stretch and make the play. Julia Johnson followed with a soft grounder off the bat that Augustine bobbled and couldn’t make the play on, allowing Grimm to score and make it 3-0.

Telegdy was intentionally walked to load the bases and Grace Smith delivered.

The Slippery Rock commit roped a 2-2 pitch from Augustine deep into the right-center field gap to score Best and Kaitlyn Bloomer for the 5-0 lead.

“It helps having those senior girls (Smith and Brooke Markland) behind Telegdy,” Rutherford said. “It took me a few games to make that move, but it’s a testament to the job Carlee (Soukup) has done at the top. She’s really started seeing the ball and getting on base at the top of the order.”

With the big lead, Telegdy was on cruise control. She was able to continuously paint the outside corner and had her drop ball working.

“We planned to stay away and knew they’d be aggressive with the bat, so we threw them a lot of drop balls,” Rutherford said. “Especially today, it was really effective.”

Telegdy allowed the six hits and struck out 12 with three walks.

The Cougars ended up leaving the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, then left runners on second and third in the top of the seventh.

McKenzie Pritts and Madi Horvat finished with doubles for the Cougars.

For the Warriors, Smith finished off a 4 for 4 performance with the double and pair of RBIs. Gimiliano and Telegdy had the other RBIs with their solo home runs.

Augustine took the loss, allowing all 11 hits and striking out seven.

“It kinda stinks when you have to come back and kind of start over, but it’s the rule and you have to deal with it,” Harvey said. “I thought we were in a good spot, then we made a couple of dinky errors and that did us in. I thought Emma did a good job. She’s a senior and we know not much out there is going to bother her.

“I honestly thought we’d be a little more ready to play since we played (Monday), but that wasn’t the case.”

The Warriors will host a couple of scrimmages as they await their playoff seeding, which will be released Thursday.

The Cougars will be back in action to close the regular season at Penn-Trafford on Thursday before the playoffs.