By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORT ALLEGANY, PA – Chasing a self-inflicted deficit from the beginning, the Port Allegany softball team was unable to salvage their season, ultimately losing to Elk County Catholic 5-2 in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals.
The Lady Gators arrived to their second consecutive postseason by way of a 16-2 season. Ending the regular season with a seven-game win streak, including a regular season finale against the Lady Crusaders, Port amassed their best record in the past five years, garnering the fourth seed in Class A.
“They just don’t give up. Whether they’re winning or they’re down, they keep staying aggressive and battling and they don’t quit,” said Port Allegany head coach Mark Wilcox on what got his team to the playoffs. “They stay in the right mindset and do everything they can to win the game.”
However, despite being surrounded by their home fans, early game jitters appeared for Port from the get-go.
After seeing the lead-off Lady Crusader reach first on a full-count walk, Port then granted her real estate on second on a passed ball before a dropped third strike and subsequent overthrow to third quickly put ECC on the scoreboard. Earning another free base via walk before tallying the first out of the afternoon, the Lady Crusaders’ next two batters drove another pair of runs in with a bunt single and a shallow pop fly that rolled off a Lady Gator glove.
Before closing out the inning with a pair of strikeouts from Bria Wilcox, Port suffered one more miscue, allowing a run on another passed ball that put them in a 4-0 hole early.
Although the Lady Gators’ response came quickly, it did little to narrow the gap on the scoreboard. Taking to the plate first, Breah Fillhart rattled off a single to centerfield before stealing her way to second on short notice. With one out, another steal and ECC overthrow would bring her across home plate. However, from there, Port’s offense went silent, finding just one hit through the next two frames.
Fortunately for the Lady Gators, while their bats went cold, their gloves got hot. After shaking off their initial nerves, Port largely shut out their opponent. Although ECC still found scattered hits, Bria Wilcox began racking up strikeouts from the circle while the defense behind her plugged up the vast majority of gaps and cracks, ultimately leaving five Lady Crusaders stranded on base through the top of the fifth.
“The first inning was slow for us but innings two through seven, we did what we’ve done all year. They didn’t give up, they kept battling,” said Mark Wilcox. “They just performed like they have all year.”
Returning to the batters’ box for the fifth time, Port then took another stab at ECC’s lead. With Peyton Gordon reaching second on a single and Lady Crusader error, she quickly tallied Port’s second run of the day, rounding the final bend on a long shot to centerfield from Gianna Glasgow. However, once again, the Lady Gators’ comeback effort would be cut short by ECC’s ace, Lanie Weisner.
“(Weisner) can throw locations very well. She has some speed behind her pitches and movement,” said Mark Wilcox on Weisner, who ended with 12 strikeouts. “It took us a little bit to be able to get the bats on those pitches.”
Despite finding some semblance of a spark in the fifth, the Lady Gators’ offense once again came up empty in the sixth. And while their defense held strong thus far, in the seventh it gave way for good.
Following a fence-hitting double from lead-off batter Bailey Thorwart, the Lady Crusaders grew their lead to three after Port gave up another error, this time a missed catch in the outfield. While that would be ECC’s final run of the afternoon, it proved to also be the final nail in the Lady Gators’ season. Going out in four in the bottom of the seventh, the Black and Orange walked off the field for the last time of the year empty handed.
Fillhart ended with a team-high two hits during her three trips to the plate, scoring once while Gordon went 1-for-3 with one run and Glasgow finished 1-for-3 with one RBI. From the circle, Bria Wilcox recorded 11 strikeouts.
“Looking ahead, the silver lining is the upperclassmen coming up, but the downside is the leadership that these five seniors have is tough to replace, very tough to replace,” said Mark Wilcox, “But there’s positive things we’re looking forward to for next year, where we’re going to be a very competitive team.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY
Elk County Catholic 400 000 1 R:5 H:6 E:4
Port Allegany 100 010 0 R:2 H:4 E:4
Elk County Catholic: Weisner (12 SO, 0 BB) and Geci
Port Allegany: Wilcox (11 SO, 5 BB) and Errick
