NA Upended By Canon-McMillan In WPIAL Quarterfinals, 3-1
Despite a seventh-inning rally, the third-seeded North Allegheny softball team was upended on Wednesday afternoon by sixth-seeded Canon-McMillan, 3-1, in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals at Boyce-Mayview Park.
Appearing in the WPIAL playoffs for a 24th consecutive season, the Tigers faced off against the Big Macs in the postseason for the first time since earning a 4-2 win over CM in the 2017 quarterfinals. However, this game would go differently. A three-base error allowed senior Oliva Ford to reach third base in the first at-bat of the game. An out later, junior Hailey Swope gave the Big Macs a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to score Ford.
Canon-McMillan added to its lead with a two-out RBI single by Emily Booher in the third inning and Aurora Shirdon raced home on a throwing error in the fourth inning for a 3-0 advantage.
Freshman right-hander Lyla Mowery limited the Tigers to just two hits through six innings and retired 10 consecutive batters before NA built an uprising in the seventh. Down to their final three outs, singles by junior Sammy Plotsko and senior Anne Melle started a rally. Later in the inning with runners at the corners and two outs, senior Julia Drazga delivered a clutch RBI single to score senior Carlyn Vaupel, and the Canon-McMillan lead was trimmed to 3-1. Unfortunately, the late-game rally wasn’t enough as Mowery induced the game’s final out and the Big Macs held on for the victory to advance to the WPIAL semifinals to face Seneca Valley next week.
In a complete game effort, Mowery did a fine job pitching to contact by inducing 14 ground ball outs. She allowed only one run on five hits with one strikeout and no walks.
Plotsko got the start for the Tigers and also went the distance, allowing only three runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
The senior class of Drazga, Melle, Vaupel, Kaci Plotsko, Clara Stover, Olivia Carlson and Caitlyn Logan were named the Wright Automotive Players of the Game for an outstanding four years at North Allegheny.
North Allegheny’s season concludes with a 12-8 record, while Canon-McMillan improves to 8-11. Congratulations to head coach Morgan Vescovi and the entire North Allegheny softball team for another outstanding season in 2024.
Line Score - Softball vs. Canon-McMillan - 05/15/2024
| Score by Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon-McMillan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |