By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORT ALLEGANY, PA – Battling the wind and rain, as well as a large deficit early, the Bradford softball team surged late to take down Port Allegany.
Coming into the Saturday contest, the Lady Owls had been on a hot streak, winning three of their last four games. After starting the season 0-2, Bradford tacked on wins against Elk County Catholic, Kane and Oswayo Valley by a 34-5 scoring margin – their lone loss during the winning stretch came via shutout to 9-1 St. Marys.
“I think (the key) has just been our persistence and not giving up and not getting down,” said Bradford head coach Katie Greene. “In the past, we’ve made so many errors and we would just give up and fall apart mentally. That’s what we’re trying to push through and not let ourselves get back in that mentality again.”
Their budding perseverance, however, would quickly be put to the test against Port. After a scoreless first frame, the Lady Owls would begin to find momentum at the plate in the top of the second, with all three of their lead-off hitters nabbing singles. Despite loading the bases, Bradford would leave all three stranded, allowing the Lady Gators to capitalize on their newfound breathing room.
Stepping into the batters’ box, Port would put one runner on with a single before Emily Errick cracked a deep shot over the left field fence, breaking the stalemate with authority and two runs. They would then put two more runners on first and third before a pickle and subsequent overthrow along the home stretch would drive in a third score. Over the next three batters, Port would score four more runs off a pair of singles and another errant overthrow. While Bradford would tie on a tourniquet with a pair of late strikeouts, they looked up at a 7-0 lead heading into the third.
Bella Zandy snags a pop fly during the Lady Owls’ comeback win over Port Allegany. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
The Lady Owls would begin to chip away immediately after. Keeping their bats warm, Mackenzie Taylor opened with a single and steal to second. Sarah Cox would follow with another single, also stealing second, before Daisy Greene put Bradford on the board with a sacrifice grounder. Although that would end their initial run, the Lady Owls snubbed Port with three consecutive strikeouts thereafter.
Then would come Bradford’s slugging showcase. Bella Zandy and Mallory Craig reached on back-to-back singles before Zandy stole all the way home on a Lady Gators’ overthrow. Adilynn Brown drove in Bradford’s third run with an RBI single, followed by a sacrifice grounder from Taylor that brought in Brown. With two runners on base and no outs, Cox stepped up and smashed a homer past left field, bringing Bradford to within one score of the Lady Gators.
To end the inning, Alyssa Johnson and Zandy would both notch singles, driving in a combined three runs to complete the comeback and put the Lady Owls up 9-7.
“I think it happens to every team where you just have that inning that goes wild and then everybody loses it mentally. When we called a timeout, I said that we are a great team, this is one bad inning and we can get this fixed,” said Katie Greene. “We all kind of knew that and felt it. We said it every inning, ‘we’re not out of this at all.’”
Over the next inning and a half, both squads would fire back and forth. Port scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game before Greene put the Lady Owls back in front in the top of the fifth with an RBI single. Although the Lady Gators would once again knot the game in the bottom of the fifth, Bradford would take the lead for good in the top of the sixth.
Once again, Johnson and Zandy started the inning with singles, setting the stage for Craig. With no outs, she cracked another shot deep past the outfield, scoring three runs to give the Lady Owls a comfortable buffer. Port, on the other hand, would not find an answer, going three-and-out in the bottom of the sixth. As the final nail in the Lady Gators’ coffin, the star duo of Johnson and Zandy would show out one last time, driving in a pair of runs with singles that put the lead out of reach.
Daisy Greene finds contact during Bradford’s fourth win of the season. Greene ended 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Although Port would tag on one more run in their final at-bat, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome, giving way to a come from behind Bradford victory.
Five Lady Owls ended with two or more RBIs throughout the win. Zandy (4-for-5) and Craig (2-for-4) both finished with three, also registering a pair of runs each, while Cox (2-for-4), Green (3-for-5) and Johnson (2-for-5) all ended with two RBIs and a combined five runs.
“It came down to just never getting down on ourselves when the game goes bad. That’s what’s been our problem the last couple years and now this team is moving past that,” said Katie Greene. “They’re in a different mindset this year and it’s much more positive and that’s what’s pushing us through.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY
R H E
Bradford 001 813 2 15 16 4
Port Allegany 070 210 1 11 9 5
Bradford: Greene (12 SO, 4 BB) and Johnson
Port Allegany: Wilcox (6 SO, 2 BB) and M. Errick
