Rockets and Bulldogs, no match for Bison and Huskies in 4A softball

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Erie County got the better of Crawford County in girls class 4A softball action Friday at Penn State Behrend.

First Fort LeBoeuf(16-3) didn’t need the bottom half of the seventh to win 10-2  against the young Titusville Rockets(11-10).
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In the second game, the defending state champion Harbor Creek Huskies (16-4) only needed five innings to win 17-3 against the Meadville Bulldogs (7-11).

In the Rockets’ first playoff game since 2019 they had to battle from behind right off the bat.

Fort LeBoeuf scored first after a triple by Kiernan Skelton and a double by Gemma Malinowski. 
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Titusville came right back to tie it in the second, though it could’ve been a bigger inning. Mary Herman led off with a triple, but was caught at home trying to score on a Peyton Gricks bunt that was well fielded by the Bison. "There was a bit of miscommunication there, but Mary went gung-ho, said head coach Megan Green. "I thought she got under the tag to be honest."

The out didn’t deter the Rockets who scored a couple batters later when Josie Paden knocked Gricks, who had reached on the fielder’s choice, home on a double. 
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Then, with two outs, Marissa Warner got a base hit to drop, but Paden, in a mix up, didn't run.

The inning ended tie 1-1 with two runners left on base.

LeBoeuf scored two more in the second and three in the third.

​Titusville had bases loaded with no outs in the fifth but only plated one on a senior Kyra Atkins' single. LeBoeuf scored four in the bottom of the fifth to seal the 10-2 victory.

“We left a lot of runners on base,” said Green who added it was little things that made a difference in the game. “We needed a little more patience. The girls are so eager and that could be inexperience.” 
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Though their season comes to an end the future looks bright with five freshmen now with a year of varsity under their belt and only two seniors graduating.

“I thanked (the team) on the bus. I told them ‘it was you guys who gave me my first winning season as a coach. I appreciate all the effort. There is nothing to be hanging their head about.”

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Harbor Creek 17 - Meadville 3

In the second game, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs got things started in a very good direction when leadoff batter Kendall Mealy walked.

Then Addyson Kregel singled up the middle. Teagan Reichel advanced the runners to second and third on a fielder’s choice.

Grace Curtiss put a ball in play in the infield that was bobbled by the Huskies’ pitcher scoring Mealy. 
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Leading 1-0, the bulldogs defense kicked in with big plays in the first to keep Harbor Creek from scoring.

The Huskies' slap bunter Brooklynn Cipalla got on base, but was caught in a double play when Brooke Przybyski popped up the bunt attempt caught by Curtiss playing in, who then turned to throw to Kregel covering first.

Starting pitcher Lila Kightlinger ended the inning with a diving catch on a short pop up.

In the second inning the Huskies took control scoring four.

The inning could have been worse for Meadville, but the bulldogs were aided by a running error on a pop up to get a double play to end the inning.
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Meadville bounced right back in the top of the third. Mealy singled up the middle. Kregel then made it to first, beating out a double play attempt. Then Reichel jacked one over the left field fence to pull within one, 4-3.
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Unfortunately that was the end of the bulldogs scoring. 

A disastrous fourth inning was aided by the Meadville pitchers all of a sudden unable to find the strike zone, walking in five of the ten runs in the inning.

​Harbor Creek scored three more in the fourth and shut Meadville down the rest of the way.
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“Hats off to Harbor Creek, they are a very good softball team,” coach Darren Mealy said. “We played them tough for (a few) innings each game we faced them this season and then we had something go wrong. They (Harbor Creek) are a good team and you can’t let that happen. We had our backs against the wall at the end, but for the first couple innings we were battling. I was proud of the girls, they never let up and kept fighting until the end. It just wasn’t our day.”