Southmoreland close to clinching Section 3 softball title

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 | 10:24 PM

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The Southmoreland softball team all but wrapped up the WPIAL Section 3-3A title Wednesday.

The Scotties (6-1 8-2) got a solid pitching performance from junior Madison Brown, and sophomore Makayla Etling collected four hits, including her third home run of the season, in an 11-1 six inning mercy rule game at Alverton.

Southmoreland is scheduled to face the bottom two teams in the section: at South Allegheny (2-6, 6-9) Thursday and two with Derry (1-6, 2-9) on May 1 and May 3.

“You can’t take anyone lightly in this section,” Southmoreland coach Todd Bunner said. “We’re in a good position, but now we have to finish it.”

With the lineup the Scotties can put out there, it’s tough for any opponent to slow them down.

Southmoreland banged out nine hits, including a double by Brooke McBeth and two hits by Gwen Basinger. Taylor Doppelheuer, Riley Puckey and Brown drove in two runs each.

Brown scattered four hits and struck out three.

Yough (5-3, 7-3), which fell into a second-place tie with Mt. Pleasant, didn’t help its own cause. The Cougars committed four errors and issued eight walks, three intentional to Southmoreland power-hitting shortstop Amarah McCutcheon. They are scheduled to face Mt. Pleasant on Friday.

When the teams met April 12 at Yough, Southmoreland won a slugfest, 15-10. Brown and her defense didn’t allow the Cougars to find a groove.

“I was working them away and in,” Brown said. “They’re a good hitting team, and my defense was strong behind me.”

Southmoreland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Etling singled, swiped third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Puckey.

Yough tied the score 1-1 in the third inning on a hit by McKenzie Pritts.

“We were able to hit with them the first game,” Yough coach Dutch Harvey said. “We didn’t do it (Wednesday). Plus, you can’t have errors. We had too many. We killed ourselves.”

Southmoreland claimed the lead for good, 2-1, in the third inning when Etling homered over the center-field fence.

“She was trying to pitch me outside, but she left them closer to the middle,” Etling said. “They were easy to adjust. It was nice to get a win against them. We just came really prepared for them.”

Southmoreland broke the game open in the fourth inning, scoring five times to push the lead to 7-1.

Basinger opened the inning with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Brown. Brynn Charnesky, who reached on an error, scored on McBeth’s double. Pritts actually robbed McBeth of a home run by knocking the drive down near the fence.

Later in the inning, Puckey (bases loaded walk) and Basinger (single) drove in runs.

The Scotties tacked on three more in the fifth inning and another in the sixth inning on Brown’s hit.

“If you give them the opportunity and the play to their potential, they usually take advantage of it,” Bunner said. “Every day we play someone in the section, we’re going to see a good pitcher. The girls give me their all.

“Makayla is a great hitter. She’s the second-best hitter on the team. She can really perform.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Southmoreland, Yough