Burrell softball advances with grueling 11-inning win vs. Belle Vernon

By: Michael Love
Monday, May 23, 2022 | 10:08 PM

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The Burrell and Belle Vernon softball teams went well beyond regulation to decide their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game Monday at Norwin.

As dusk approached and the teams were locked in a scoreless battle with a trip to the semifinals on the line — Belle Vernon’s Talia Ross and Burrell’s Katie Armstrong were relentless in the pitching circle –—the Bucs were able to push a run across in the bottom of the 11th to score a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Leopards.

“It was simply a game between two very good teams,” said Burrell coach Rick Nealer, whose team improved to 12-1 on the season.

“Both lineups can really hit the ball, but as the game wore on, you could clearly see it was setting up to be a classic pitchers’ duel. Belle Vernon is so well-coached with some really powerful hitters. You hate to see one team lose a game like that. Both teams played really well. That’s what you expect in the playoffs.”

When the teams went to the 10th inning, the international rule — where a runner begins each half inning on second base — went into effect.

Belle Vernon had its runner stranded on third in the 10th and 11th innings.

Burrell junior Abby Larko started the bottom of the 11th on second. Rae Seibert, the No. 9 hitter in the Burrell lineup, laid down a bunt between home plate and the pitcher’s circle that Ross charged to field.

Ross’ throw to first was low, and it skipped into foul territory. Larko raced home with the winning run.

“I was definitely nervous when I came to the plate,” Seibert said. “I wanted to make a play for my team. When I saw the ball get past first base, I was filled with so much excitement and joy because I knew Abby was going to score.”

Burrell, which earned a bye past the first round and played for the first time since May 11, will face No. 2 Elizabeth Forward (15-2) in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Norwin.

The Warriors defeated No. 10 West Mifflin, 4-1, in Monday’s other quarterfinal game at Norwin.

The Bucs snapped a six-game quarterfinal losing streak. The last time Burrell won in the quarterfinals was 2011, when it defeated Bishop Canevin, 5-0, en route to the WPIAL Class 2A title.

For No. 6 Belle Vernon (12-8), the season comes to a sudden end. The Leopards were hoping to reach the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 2018, when they won the second of back-to-back Class 4A titles.

Burrell defeated Belle Vernon, 3-2, in eight innings in last year’s first round.

“What can you say to the girls after the game? We give up just one unearned run,” Leopards coach Tom Rodriguez said. “Their pitcher did really well against us. We worked on the change-up. But she had an excellent pitch. We struggled there with it. We also struggled to get a couple of bunts down when you have to get them down. It’s critical, especially in the extra innings.

“But both pitchers; what was it, probably close to 40 strikeouts? Wow. One of them had to lose, I guess. That’s tough. But that happens.”

Armstrong gave up just four hits and struck out 21 batters. Maren Metikosh, the No. 3 hitter in the Leopards lineup, was the only one to really get to Armstrong.

She doubled with two outs in the first and tripled with two outs in the sixth. But both times, Armstrong came back to strike out cleanup hitter Ashley Joll to end the threat.

Armstrong struck out three batters in an inning three times. Her 21 strikeouts puts her two shy of 200 for the season.

“Katie is such a gamer, and she was on fire like she’s been all season for us,” Nealer said.

Ross surrendered just two hits, a single to senior Caroline Dynka with two outs in the first and an infield single to Alanna Miller to lead off the fifth.

Miller advanced to second on an error later in the fifth, but Ross struck out three in the inning to quell the threat. She finished the game with 17 strikeouts.

Dynka drew the only walk as she reached to lead off the game. She also was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

“We knew going into that it would be a tight game,” Armstrong said. “It’s such a great feeling to be where we are and know what we still can accomplish considering how we started the season with just 10 girls.

“We are a small team in numbers and also a young team, but we believed that we were capable of doing this. I can’t wait to get to Wednesday and see how far we can go.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell