Softball News

by Randy Gore

North Allegheny broke out the big bats on Tuesday night for a 12-0 rout of Pine-Richland in five innings. The Tigers capitalized on eight walks, a hit batter and two errors by the Rams for an important section win.

Pine-Richland starting pitcher Keelee Kalinoski was erratic in the first inning and walked the first three batters she faced. With the bases loaded, sophomore Zoe Rychel continued her torrid hitting to start to the season with a two-run single for a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Leah Carlson followed with a two-run double to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead. NA batted around in the inning and tacked on two more runs when senior McKenna Rowlands delivered an RBI single and junior Avelyn Kropf brought home another with a bases-loaded walk for a 6-0 advantage.

Stellar defense for both teams, highlighted by a running catch in shallow left field by Kropf to leave the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning, kept the score at 6-0 going into the fifth.

In similar fashion to the way the game started, North Allegheny pulled away from Pine-Richland for good with a six-run inning. Senior Sammy Plotsko opened the scoring in the fifth with a one-out RBI single and a Rams error shortly after, allowed Kropf to score to make it 8-0, North Allegheny. With the bases loaded, junior Erin Fadgen capped the blowout with a walk-off grand slam to invoke the run rule and punctuated a 12-0 victory in five innings. Reaching base four times with a single, two walks and the game-ending grand slam, Fadgen was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Carlson also had a big night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single, two RBIs and two runs scored. Rychel also had a three-hit night, driving in pair and scoring twice. Plotsko earned the win in the circle with five shutout innings and four strikeouts. The right-hander scattered five hits to silence the Rams.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 6-6 overall and 5-4 in Section 1-6A, while Pine-Richland drops to 8-4 overall and 7-4 in the section. The Tigers will host Seneca Valley on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Softball Summary vs. Pine-Richland, 4-22-25

Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Pine-Richland	0	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	5	2
North Allegheny	6	0	0	0	6	X	X	12	7	0

WP - Sammy Plotsko (6-6)
LP - Keelee Kalinoski