Hometown Softball Recap – West Mifflin Titans – 04/14/2016

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, April 14, 2016 | 10:55 PM

In the ultra-competitive Class AAA Section 3, outcomes are often decided by just a handful of key plays. On Thursday, a throwing error by West Mifflin proved to be the difference-maker, as Thomas Jefferson scored a 3-2 victory against the host Titans.

The resurgent Jaguars, who scored wins over both Belle Vernon and Trinity this season after failing to qualify for the postseason last year, gained the upper hand early, as they plated a run in the first inning on a double steal.

The Titans responded, however, as they scored twice in the bottom of the second inning to take their first and only lead. In that stanza, Annalise Modrick led off with a double to right field, and Tiana Sekowski followed with a single. Riley Carr, running for Modrick, scored on a Jaguars’ throwing error, while a groundout from Casey Bornack plated Sekowski later in the inning. Both runs came against Alysa Fairman, who replaced starter Lacie Lautner after she was struck by a pitch.

Lautner returned to the circle following an absence of just one inning, though, and she stifled the Titans’ bats the rest of the way, while the Thomas Jefferson offense scratched out two more runs. In the third inning, Sydney Flinn recorded an inside-the-park home run on a ball that got past the lunging Jordan Harshman and rolled to the fence.

Two innings later, the eventual winning run scored on a West Mifflin miscue. With Rachael Bowers on second and two outs, Titans’ catcher Alyssa Bell noticed that Bowers had taken too much of a lead, and fired down to second base in a pickoff attempt. Her throw was errant, though, and as it bounced into center field, Bowers rounded third and slide home just a split second before the throw reached the plate.

The Titans put a runner in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings, but could not produce a timely hit, as the Jaguars sealed the victory.

In the setback, Modrick yielded two runs in five innings of work, while Savanna Simm worked two effective innings in relief, and also contributed a pair of hits. Additionally, fellow senior Amber Cook ripped a single, and made a bevy of strong plays in the field at shortstop.

The defeat could prove very costly for the Titans, who fell to 1-4 in Section 3 (5-5 overall). Conversely, Thomas Jefferson remains perfect in section action at 3-0 (6-1 overall).

Tags: West Mifflin