Freeport softball belts 4 home runs to defeat Waynesburg in WPIAL quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 21, 2018 | 8:42 PM

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Freeport softball showed a propensity for the long ball in regular season, belting 15 homers on its way to claiming a section title for the first time in 18 years. After a two-week layoff prior to its playoff debut, there weren't any signs of rust.

The Yellowjackets turned their playoff opener into their own personal home run derby, and advanced to the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in a quarter century.

Second-seeded Freeport belted four homers in a 10-4 victory over No. 7 Waynesburg (10-8) in the Class 3A quarterfinals Monday at Plum.

Freeport (13-0), which had lost in the quarterfinals each of the last two seasons, advanced to play No. 3 Southmoreland (9-6) in the semis Wednesday at a time and site to be announced.

Claire Crytzer got the homer party started with a two-run shot in the first. Jenna Hildebrand led off the second with an opposite-field line drive homer over the right-center fence. Ashleigh Schmidt and Ally DeJidas added two-run homers in the fourth.

“That's what's carried us through all season,” Freeport coach Sam Ross said. “We played good defense and had good pitching, but if you can hit the long ball like that you're going to be in pretty good shape.”

The field at Plum is 9 feet shorter down the lines than most regulation softball fields, but the homers by Freeport would've been out of most parks.

Crytzer's homer went high over the tall fence in left field. Schmidt's cleared the right-field fence. Hildebrand's was an opposite-field rocket that left the field in a hurry, and DeJidas launched a majestic shot that went sailing high over the scoreboard in right center.

“We can hit one through nine and that's helped get us this far,” DeJidas said. “It'll keep helping us in the future.”

Ross said DeJidas' homer reminded him of one she hit earlier this year over the scoreboard at Burrell, which helped Freeport come back to beat the Bucs.

“Ally has capabilities that we haven't even discovered at this point,” Ross said of his junior center fielder. “If I was opposing her I'd probably walk her every time. She's a tough girl. She has a lot of power.”

After Rachel Elsenheimer put Waynesburg ahead 1-0 in the top of the first with a solo homer, Freeport responded by scoring three in the bottom half. Ashleigh Schmidt led off with a double and then scored on an RBI single by Tori Radvan. Two batters later Crytzer launcher her homer.

Waynesburg scored three in the third to tie the game at 4-4, but again Freeport responded. Maya Borghol hit a two-out double and scored on a single by Emilee Schmidt. Schmidt later scored on an error to extend Freeport's lead to 6-4.

“They're a good hitting team,” Waynesburg coach Jim Armstrong said. “They hit the mistake pitches, and you can't make mistakes against a team like that, because they'll put it out on you. We had one strong inning, but after that we couldn't fight back.

“We played some good teams like Belle Vernon, South Park, Southmoreland, Frazier and West Greene to get ready for something like this, but Freeport was the better team today.”

Schmidt and DeJidas provided insurance with two-run homers in the fourth. All nine Freeport hitters reached base at least once. The Yellowjackets finished with a dozen hits. Ashleigh Schmidt, DeJidas, Radvan and Hildebrand had two hits apiece.

“Whenever one of us starts hitting, we just continue off of it,” Radvan said. “We all have confidence that the next batter in the order can hit a home run or get on somehow.”

Radvan settled into the circle after the third, allowing one hit over the final four innings. She did create a jam in the fifth, after she hit back-to-back batters to load the bases with two outs, but she got Brooke Coss to pop out to Becca Fennell at first to end the inning unscathed.

Freeport displayed good defense behind Radvan, with Emilee and Ashleigh Schmidt both making nice plays in the middle infield and Hildebrand making a sliding grab on a line drive to right field in the sixth.

“Our defense did well, and Tori pitched a fine game on a hot day,” Ross said. “Jenna Manke did a good job behind the plate. This is a pretty big backstop here (at Plum), and she held her own back there.”

Eclipsing the quarterfinal hurdle that has been a challenge the last couple years for the current group was nice, but the team isn't satisfied. They view Monday's win as a step to the ultimate goal, and they want to continue making history.

“It feels great to make it as further than a Freeport team has in a while, but we're not done yet,” DeJidas said. “We still have a lot to do.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Freeport, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central