Riverview softball romps past Quigley in first round

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 | 9:36 PM

Quigley Catholic's first WPIAL softball appearance in 11 years was short-lived.

Riverview erupted for 13 runs in the first inning and rolled to a 21-0 victory over the Spartans in a WPIAL Class A first-round game at Plum.

The game was terminated after 2½ innings due to the 15-run rule.

The Raiders sent 19 batters to the plate in the first inning and 12 more in the second to win their first playoff game since 2012.

No. 7 Riverview (12-4) will advance to the quarterfinal round against second-seeded Monessen.

The game is tentatively scheduled for Monday, but WPIAL officials at Wednesday's game said Thursday was being left open in case any of Wednesday's games were washed out.

The WPIAL office reportedly had planned to wait until all the Wednesday games were finished before looking at the next round.

No. 10 Quigley finished with a 6-7 mark.

Katelyn Davis blasted three doubles for the Raiders, including two in the first inning. The junior drove in four runs.

Davis didn't think the win would come so easily.

“I didn't know what it would be like going into this,” Davis said. “Obviously, they're not in our section, they're a different team. I wasn't expecting the game to be like this. We had it in our minds to go into the game strong and tough.”

Riverview has won eight of its last nine games.

“I think it has continued, we've played well,” Raiders coach Jim Ashbaugh said of his team's recent hot pace. “We came out and started hitting right away. Carys Kenny-Howell had a great day pitching and that put us in the right perspective.”

Kenny-Howell struck out eight of the 10 batters she faced. No Quigley batters put the ball into play.

Taylor Kirschner walked to open the game and stole second. Emily Sigmund struck out and when Riverview catcher Alyssa Cappa returned the ball to the pitcher, Kirshner tried to take third and was thrown out by Kenny-Howell.

In the third, Olivia Cybulski reached first on a catcher's interference and was left stranded when the final two batters of the game struck out.

Cappa batted three times in the first inning and scored three runs overall.

“She has speed and she has great softball knowledge,” Ashbaugh said of Cappa. “She's got a great arm behind the plate and has a good bat with some power.”

Kelsey Phillips reached base four times for Riverview and scored three runs. Davis and Allie Jendrasik also scored three times.

Davis said a player still has to concentrate on the game, even with a big lead.

“You never know when the other team is coming back and so you have to keep fighting and keep going,” Davis said. “We have to go into the Monessen game confidently and play our best.”

With the game well out of hand, the Riverview coaching staff finally told the players not to steal or advance on overthrows.

Riverview was eliminated by Monessen, 11-0, last season.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Quigley Catholic, Riverview