Lady Wildcats Bow Out of Post Season with 13-6 Loss to Penn-Trafford

AdminJune 3, 2019Last Updated: June 3, 2019

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UNIVERSITY PARK – The Lady Wildcat softball season came to an end today as they fell to Penn-Trafford, 13-6 in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs. While the end score may indicate it was a one-sided event, Central Mountain did play well enough to be in contention until late in the game.

“We had some good innings and we had some innings where we kinda let down,” said CM head coach, Fred Caldwell, “We gave up four runs in the first inning, that certainly didn’t help, it set the tone for them.”

The early 4 run lead by the Lady Warriors did set the tempo early. Penn Trafford added another run to their tally in the top of the third inning to hold a 5-0 lead.

The Lady ‘Cats finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when Alyssa Fisher led things off by working a walk, then an RBI double from Caitlyn Watson followed by an RBI double from Morgan Wetzel and an RBI single from Riley Houser to close the gap to 5-3.

Penn Trafford went back to work to plate 2 more runs in the top of the fifth inning, with CM keeping pace with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth.

It was history repeating itself this time with Fisher getting a base on balls, Watson reaching base on a fielder’s choice, a single from Wetzel and a double by Houser to set the score at 7-5.

“After the bottom of the sixth, I though we were in pretty good shape,” Caldwell assessed, “But in the top of the seventh, we had another issue of giving up a few more runs which really hurt us.”

In the top of the seventh inning Penn-Trafford unleashed their bats once more, pounding out 6 more runs, extending their lead to 13-5.

With one more at-bat left in the bottom of the seventh, CM managed to score one last run before bowing to the Warriors. It was base hits from Watson and Autumn Dershem and a wild pitch that set the final score at 13-6.

“I thought the girls played well at times. We eventually hit their pitchers, we got their first pitcher out of the game, I thought that was a good sign,” Caldwell explained, “You’ve gotta give Penn-Trafford credit, they are a good team,” he added.

Leading the Lady ‘Cats offensively was Wetzel with 2 singles and a double. Houser and Watson with a double and a single each. Kylie Wagner with a double and Dershem and Madalyn Bechdel with a base hit each.

Madi Knepp worked the circle allowing all 14 Warrior hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings of work. Fisher came in for the final 2 outs of the game.

“I think the future looks very good,” Caldwell said of looking forward, “Coming in with 8 seniors concerned me a little bit. We are certainly going to miss them. The good thing is we return all of our infield and we have some very talented young players coming up. The future looks bright.”

Central Mountain finishes the season as District 6/9 champs with an overall record of 11-10.