Morgan Ryan Dominates As Hempfield Repeats in Quad-A

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 3, 2016 | 6:15 PM

One year ago, Hempfield pitcher Morgan Ryan threw a one-hit shutout en route to a WPIAL Championship. Flash forward to 2016, and not much has changed. Ryan threw a four-hit shutout as her #1 seed Hempfield Spartans repeated as Class AAAA Softball Champions, defeating #3 seed Baldwin 2-0 on Friday afternoon at California University’s Lilley Field.

Baldwin threatened early in the contest. Taylor Dadig led off the bottom of the first with a sharp single up he middle. After a wild pitch and a sacrifice moved Dadig to third, Jamie Schleicher drew a walk. Samantha Wampler drove a hard shot to third base, where Kaylee Bloom made a sliding stop and threw to first for the second out. Ryan then forced a groundout to end the inning.

The Lady Highlanders got two runners in scoring position in the second as well, courtesy of a lead off walk from Ana Hale and an opposite-field single by Carly Santillo. Dadig’s two-out shot to center was caught by a sliding Taylor Hoffman to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.

Hempfield used two-out lightning to break the scoreless tie in the top of the third inning. Alexa Pastor singled to left and stole second base. Jenna Osikowicz then drove a ground ball base hit up the middle, scoring Pastor from second and giving the Lady Spartans a 1-0 lead. 

After being given the lead, Ryan seemed to hit another level. The Notre Dame commit would retire ten of the next 11 Baldwin hitters she faced, including three of her four strikeouts during that stretch. 

The score remained knotted at 1-0 until the top of the sixth inning. Ryan’s battery mate, catcher Madi Stoner, would add a little insurance to the Hempfield lead, drilling a one-out, full count, pitch deep over the centerfield fence for a solo home run to double the Lady Spartans’ advantage to 2-0.  “I was just looking to get deep into the count and hope she (pitcher Ana Hale) would make a mistake,” said Stoner, who registered two of Hempfield’s drawn full count at bats against Hale.

Baldwin tried to return the favor in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Samantha Wampler, Hale, and Addy Tagg each worked full counts and reached base on a free pass. After walking the bases loaded, Ryan would bear down and strike out Santillo to end the threat. 

The Lady Highlanders would have one last chance in the bottom of the seventh. Dadig reached on a one-out single, sending the tying run to the plate in Ashley Brady. 

Brady had two hard hits earlier in the game, but a stroke of bad luck on both. She led off the third inning with a line drive that deflected off of the top of first-baseman Ali Belgiovane’s glove. However, second baseman Jenna Osikowicz was backing up on the play, scooped the ball off of the dirt, and flipped back to Belgiovane for the 3-4-3 putout. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, she lined a 2-1 offering back up the middle that deflected off of the pitcher’s glove and found its way into the webbing of shortstop Alexa Pastor’s glove for the 1-6 line out. 

Brady hit another hard ball, driving a 2-2 pitch towards left field. Pastor robbed Brady again, leaping high in the air to snag the line drive. She then fired to first to double off Dadig to end the game.

It is tough to call a four-hit shutout a “bad day” in the circle, but Ryan was the first to say that it was not her best performance. “Whenever I feel like I don’t have one of my best days…we are a team and I feel like they have my back.”  Her Lady Spartan teammates certainly had her back defensively as well as at the plate. All eight of her teammates in the starting lineup recorded hits in the contest, and at least one Hempfield batter reached base in every inning.

Baldwin (13-4) competed throughout the contest, but could not string together enough hits to push a run across home plate. Dadig led the way offensively, going 2-4. The timely hit eluded Baldwin all day, as the Lady Highlanders stranded eight baserunners, including six left in scoring position. Ana Hale took the loss, giving up two runs on nine hits, striking out three and walking two in her complete game effort. The Lady Highlanders will have to wait another year to try to get their 11th WPIAL Softball Championship. 

For Hempfield (21-2), it was the fourth softball championship in school history, and the first back-to-back titles for the program. “It’s the first time in the program’s history, and there’s been a lot of good teams here, so to be the first one, it really means a lot,” said pitcher Morgan Ryan.

 The road now moves to the PIAA playoffs. Baldwin takes the #2 seed out of District 7, and will take on District 10 champion Erie McDowell.  That game will take place on Monday, June 6th, at Penn State Behrend. Hempfield receives the #1 seed from District 7, and will get to face a familiar foe in section rival Latrobe. Latrobe received the #3 seed courtesy of their 3-0 victory over North Allegheny in Tuesday’s consolation game. Hempfield will return to CalU for their matchup with Latrobe on Monday. 

For the Lady Spartans, the celebration was enjoyed but short-lived. The seniors rushed home to make it for graduation ceremonies.  For junior Morgan Ryan, back-to-back shutouts in the WPIAL Championship to win gold are not enough. “Our hard work paid off, now we have to just keep working for states.” 

Box Score:
Hempfield Spartans : 0-0-1-0-0-1-0  =  2-9-0-7
Baldwin Highlanders : 0-0-0-0-0-0-0  =  0-4-0-8

Tags: Baldwin, Hempfield