By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — As the old adage goes, it’s always hardest to beat a team a third time.
The No. 6 seed Allegany-Limestone softball team found that out as it faced a challenge from No. 11 seed Southwestern in the Section 6 Class B First Round.
The 7-3 final scoreline may not portray it, but the Gators, after a hot start, were pushed to their limits as they squared off against a Trojans team that was determined to avenge the two regular season losses they were handed by the hosts.
“I told my girls, (Southwestern is) going to come out fighting today, and that’s exactly what they did,” A-L coach Kaelyn Arnold said. “I said, ‘from here on out, this is what all the teams are going to be like, so we got to be ready from the jump.’ We had a good first inning, then we kind of laid down a little bit, and (Southwestern) came back, … but we bounced back and got the job done.”
A-L started things off blanking Southwestern and putting up three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning, a start, while not nearly as drastic, was still reminiscent of the most recent regular season meeting between the sides.
But this time, the visitors conjured up a response.
Over the next three innings, the Trojans stepped up defensively, putting the Gators offense on ice, allowing just one hit and keeping them off the scoreboard. And it was in the fourth and fifth frames when they started to turn the tides, connecting for two hits and scoring once with two outs on the board in the fourth and following that up with another run in the fifth to cut the A-L lead to just a run.
“We just got to keep the ball in front and, like I’ve been telling them, we got to take the outs that they give us,” Arnold said of what she told her team in an attempt to settle any nerves.
But while her team’s lead may have been cut, its resilient nature, that has shown up time and time again this season, was still fully intact.
Faced with their opponent’s resurgence into the affair, the Gators connected for four hits and scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning — three of those hits and each of those runs coming across the plate with two outs on the board.
The A-L defense once again found its groove and made quick work of Southwestern in the sixth, maintaining its offense’s momentum, which went out and put up another run in the sixth to all but put the game to bed.
“We started using some small-ball, and I think that helped us out a little bit,” Arnold said of her team’s strategy to get the bats firing again. “Being able to use small-ball, really helps us out. It kind of works out the kinks a little bit for us.
Allegany-Limestone’s Kennedy Honeck (8) connects on a pitch against Southwestern. (Spencer Bates)
The Trojans were able to get some runners on the basepaths in the seventh, but a still unrattled Gators defense was able to close out the game, giving up just one run in the top of the final frame to their guest’s rally attempt.
“The whole lineup didn’t work the way we wanted it to today, but we found a way to still get the win and that’s all you can ask for in the playoffs,” Arnold said.
The game was a stern test of the mettle of this A-L team early in the postseason, and one in which it passed according to Arnold. And it was in her message to the team, after the victory, that she once again emphasized the road will not get any easier and encouraged her players to continue to trust in everything they have done over the course of the campaign.
“Every team is going to show up to play,” Arnold said. “So we just got to play all seven innings, hard. We got to be aggressive, we got to have each other’s backs, and we’ll just continue to do what we’ve been doing. And let’s hope it works out.”
With the win, A-L will host No. 14 seed Newfane, who defeated No. 3 seed Performing Arts, on May 22 at 5 p.m. in the Section 6 Class B Quarterfinals.
AT ALLEGANY
R H E
Southwestern 000 110 1 3 5 2
Allegany-Limestone 300 031 X 7 9 1
SW: Silakowski (3 SO, 2 BB) and Beckerink
A-L: K. Truman (11 SO, 2 BB) and P. Truman
