Lady Tigers Capture Section Crown By Topping Titans
After a throwing no-hitter in a masterful pitching performance on Wednesday night against Pine-Richland, Madi Beining’s encore in a Thursday matinee with Shaler was a three-run homer and a complete game effort in a 7-2 victory for North Allegheny against the rival Titans. The win over the reigning WPIAL champions secures an outright Section 3-AAAA crown for the Tigers for the second time in the last three years.
Building on her no-hitter against the Rams, Beining extended her hitless innings streak to 11 in a row before a two-out double by Lyndsey Lakatos ended the string in the fifth inning. Shaler didn’t score against the Gannon University recruit until the final inning when the game was well out of reach.
North Allegheny wasted little time before scoring the game’s first run as Laura Cotter reached on a two-base throwing error by Shaler and moved to third on an infield single by Mackenzie Gostomski. Following a lineout by Emily Hogan, junior catcher Liz Scherer drove home Cotter with a sacrifice fly to center and the Tigers held a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, Beining walked and was substituted for by courtesy runner Shannon Hamm. Senior Logann Woodley reached on a throwing error and was temporarily replaced by pinch runner Wendy Weaver to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Following a successful sacrifice bunt by Lacey Hilderbrand, Hamm scored on an RBI groundout by Erica Jelinek and Weaver raced home on a wild pitch to bring the score to 3-0, Tigers.
The Tigers doubled the lead in the fifth inning with one mighty swing as Beining smashed an offering from pitching counterpart A.J. Nichols over the left field fence for a three-run homer and a 6-0 advantage. NA added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Cotter scored from third on a passed ball.
Continuing her outstanding hitting in the lead-off spot, Cotter reached base four times for the Tigers and scored three runs. Beining walked twice and touched them all with her home run in the fifth. For her efforts at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle, Beining was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
It was a productive day for the NA lineup as a whole with eight Tigers either reaching base or collecting an RBI. Gostomski was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and Hogan was 1 for 2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. North Allegheny excelled at moving runners along the base paths with three sacrifice bunts and one sac fly.
With the win, North Allegheny remains unbeaten with a 16-0 overall record and 13-0 section mark. Shaler slips to 11-3 overall and 10-3 in section play. The Tigers will visit Mt. Lebanon on Friday afternoon for a non-section contest. First pitch is set for 4:15.
NA Softball vs. Shaler, 4-30-15
| Score by Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Allegheny | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | |
| Shaler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |