Pritts powers Yough softball team past Blackhawk

By: Jose Negron
Wednesday, May 18, 2022 | 10:31 PM

Previous Next

The offensive production of McKenzie Pritts and the right arm of Emma Augustine helped lift Yough into the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals Wednesday.

Pritts finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in a team-high five runs, and Augustine finished with eight strikeouts and kept the opposition at bay in fourth-seeded Yough’s 7-3 triumph over No. 13 Blackhawk in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs at Plum High School.

“I thought we were a little undisciplined early, but our girls settled down enough to get the job done,” Yough coach Dutch Harvey said. “I think McKenzie Pritts had the biggest game of her career there. That was unreal. I’ll take that all day from her.”

Pritts turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead for Yough (13-3) as she delivered a two-run home run to left field in the second inning. She singled in the first and later added a bases-clearing double in the fifth.

“She just killed the ball. I loved it,” Harvey said. “She’s our best hitter, and when she comes up to bat, I feel confident she’s going to get something going. The girls feed off her energy, and today she demonstrated that.”

Augustine allowed an unearned run in the first inning as Blackhawk (5-9) took an early one-run advantage.

Karma Malcolm reached on an error to start the game and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zoey Lindner. A single by Raina Johnson plated Malcolm with the game’s first run.

“I think we could have taken advantage more in the first. If we add a run or two more, maybe it’s a different ballgame,” Blackhawk coach Jim Riggio said. “Yough deserves a lot of credit, too. They’re a very good team.”

Malcolm had perhaps the biggest hit of the day for Blackhawk in the seventh inning when she hit a two-run shot off Augustine, who allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks in the win.

“She made one bad pitch there, but other than that, she got out of some tight situations,” Harvey said of Augustine, who escaped a jam in the fourth in which Blackhawk had runners on first and second with nobody out.

“Her changeup was really nice early on and it kept them off balanced a little bit.”

Peyton Kimberlin struggled with command throughout the day, but the freshman hurler kept Yough’s offense at bay for the most part.

Aside from the runs allowed on hits to Pritts, Kimberlin surrendered runs on an RBI single by Sidney Bergman in the third and on a wild pitch that allowed Adoria Waldier to score following a leadoff double in the fifth.

Kimberlin allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with eight walks and five strikeouts in six innings.

“She’s a freshman and needs to learn to cut down on the number of pitches she throws in a game, but all in all, I thought she was strong,” Riggio said. “We snuck into the playoffs, we played hard and I’m proud of the way we performed today.”

Yough will set its sights on a quarterfinal meeting with No. 5 Montour on Monday at a site and time to be determined. Montour earned an 11-9 win over No. 12 Knoch in the first round Wednesday.

Tags: Blackhawk, Yough