Highlands softball shakes off rust, builds momentum with win over Freeport
By:
Friday, April 22, 2022 | 9:38 PM
Highlands’ Jaycee Haidze smiles as she rounds the bases after hitting her first solo home run against Freeport on Friday.
Highlands’ Jessica Cekada turns a double play next to Freeport’s Natalie King during their game on Friday.
Freeport pitcher Sydney Selker delivers against Highlands on Friday.
Highlands pitcher Jaycee Haidze delivers against Freeport on Friday.
Highlands’ Kassidy Cambal smiles after her RBI single against Freeport on Friday.
Highlands pitcher Jaycee Haidze celebrates with catcher Kassidy Cambal after retiring Freeport on Friday.
Highlands players greet Maera Williams (27) at home plate after her solo home run against Freeport on Friday.
Freeport pitcher Sydney Selker delivers against Highlands on Friday.
The Highlands softball team returned to game action Friday after a nine-day, weather-related layoff, and it put a second win on the board against Section 1-4A rival Freeport.
Playing just their second home game of the season, the Golden Rams got solo home runs from Jaycee Haidze and Maera Williams and run-scoring hits from Kassidy Cambal and Jess Cekada off Freeport pitcher Sydney Selker in a 5-1 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
“(Selker) is a very good pitcher, and there is strong competition all around in the section,” said Williams, who finished with two of Highlands’ 10 hits. “I think we just built momentum off of each other at the plate. We just all wanted to do good for each other.”
Highlands, 2-3 overall and 2-1 in section play, doesn’t have to wait long to return to action as it travels to Valley on Saturday for a 9 a.m. nonsection matchup.
The Golden Rams travel to Knoch on Monday and host McKeesport on Tuesday, Knoch on Thursday and Greensburg Salem on Friday.
“It felt really good to be playing again,” Williams said. “We’re going to have a lot of games in the coming days. We were just getting antsy not being able to play. This was a nice win to give us momentum going into that stretch of games.”
Freeport, which fell to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the section, also has a busy week of section games coming up as it will travel to McKeesport on Monday, visit Greensburg Salem on Wednesday and host Burrell on Friday.
“I told them that I was really happy with their performance despite the loss,” Freeport coach Sam Ross said. “We’re looking forward to what we can do this week.”
The difference for Highlands in Friday’s win was the fourth inning when it tallied four runs to extend a tenuous 1-0 lead.
Haidze, who staked the Golden Rams to the lead with a solo homer to lead off the second, did it again in the fourth as she started the frame with another bomb over the left-center field fence.
Williams made it back-to-back long balls to push the lead to 3-0.
Selker and the Yellowjackets defense then got a pair of outs, but Jocelyn Celko started a two-out rally with a single.
Cekada followed with a double to score Celko. Cambel then singled home Cekada for a 5-0 advantage.
Highlands hit eight home runs in the two-game series with Freeport. The Golden Rams had five in a 12-2 win over Freeport on April 4.
Haidze picked up the win Friday as she surrendered six Freeport hits and walked five but struck out 10 while also working out of a couple jams.
Freeport’s lone run came in the top of the fifth as Savanna Urik doubled with one out and later scored on a two-out double from Natalie King.
Urik reached base three times with a walk and a single in addition to her two-base hit.
King also had two hits for the Yellowjackets. She led off the top of the fourth with a single to deep center but was erased from the base paths as part of a 6-4-3 double play.
Despite the twin killing, Freeport wasn’t done in the inning as it loaded the bases on a single from Jenna Selker and walks to Aimee Heasley and Maddie Shanta.
But Haidze struck out pinch hitter Hannah Shepherd to end the threat.
The Yellowjackets also had runners on first and second with one out in both the first and sixth innings, but in both instances, they were not able to score.
In all, Freeport left nine runners on base.
“I was happy with our defense. We had no errors, and Highlands is a hard-hitting team,” Ross said. “I thought Sydney pitched really well. She did a nice job matching up with Jaycee. We just left too many runners on base. A hit here or there a couple of times could’ve made it a little more interesting.”
Selker took the loss, giving up nine hits and three walks while striking out eight Golden Rams.
Cekada finished 2 for 4 for Highlands, and Carrah Scardina added a single.
“The girls needed this win. They needed a boost,” said Highlands coach Jenn Koprivnikar, who saw her team suffer a 6-3 loss to Burrell in its previous game April 13. “Our field came together with the fencing being completed Wednesday when we were here. Being at home and playing well gave the girls a lot of comfort.”
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.
More High School Softball
• Trib 10: Baseball power rankings shaken up despite poor week of weather• Leechburg softball team proud to uphold playoff streak
• Westmoreland County softball notebook: Southmoreland captures elusive section title
• Close games sharpen Greensburg Central Catholic softball for battles ahead
• Trib HSSN softball player of the week for May 1, 2023
