Big sixth inning lifts Ellwood City over McGuffey in WPIAL 3A quarterfinals
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WEXFORD — Despite a deadlocked tie and pitchers’ duel throughout No. 5 McGuffey and No. 4 Ellwood City’s WPIAL Class 3A high school softball quarterfinal matchup at North Allegheny Senior High School, the Wolverines used a three-run sixth inning to get past McGuffey 3-0 and advance to the semifinals on Monday, May 18.
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“It is the quarterfinals and when you get down to those final eight teams, it is going to be a battle,” Ellwood City head coach Gary Rozanski said. “Between both pitchers, we knew that whoever scored first would likely win the game.”
That moment for Ellwood City (10-5) came with one out in the sixth inning, breaking through against McGuffey (10-7) pitcher Miley Main.
Throughout the contest, the Wolverines worked into deep counts and that continued in the sixth, with Amber McQuistion working the count full and getting on base with a leadoff walk.
Two batters later, third baseman Kaylee Palombi roped a ball right through the shortstop’s legs and into the gap to score McQuistion from second for the game’s first run.
“I was just so happy to come up there with that hit,” Palombi said. “I have been struggling a little bit the past two games, so I was just excited that I was able to come up in that moment and cash in.”
Once Palombi manufactured the game-deciding run, Ellwood City got some much-needed insurance from the bottom of the order.
After second baseman Carah Kreitzer reached on a single and left fielder Jadyn Allwine worked the Wolverines’ second walk of the inning to load the bases, right fielder Taylor Hoffman flipped the order with a two-run single up the middle.
“Looking at McGuffey’s stats throughout the year, we wanted to be disciplined, selective and take advantage of any walk we got,” Rozanski said. “At the end, we got the timely hits and it was big for us.”
Along with the timely hits, McQuistion once again dazzled in the circle, pitching a complete game three-hit shutout, allowing just one free pass.
The senior Slippery Rock signee had hitters off balance all night, mixing in her offspeed pitches with a heavy dose of the fastball to strike out seven.
“All my offspeed pitches were working well to get weak contact and pop balls up,” McQuistion said. “My change-up was good, along with my high curveball and a little bit of my screwball to get the swings and misses as well.”
With the victory, Ellwood City will now set its sights on top-seeded South Park. The two teams will face off on Wednesday, May 20 at a site and time to be determined.
Ethan Morrison is the sports reporter for the Beaver County Times. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him at EthanMorrison26 on X.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ellwood City shuts down McGuffey in WPIAL 3A softball quarterfinals