Tyrone fell behind early on Wednesday, in a game twice postponed by rain, then scratched to back to within one run before a play at home plate finished the season for the Lady Eagles. Playing at home, in the opening round of the Class AA District VI Softball Tournament, Philipsburg-Osceola took a 6-3 advantage going into the Eagles final at bat, before Tyrone scored twice and were knocking at the Lady Mounties door for more. The P-O Lady Mounties got two great defensive plays from right fielder Ashley Brown to save a 6-5 victory.
Tyrone scored a first-inning run, but Philipsburg-Osceola came back with two. Then two innings later the Lady Eagles tallied a pair of runs to take a 3-2 lead. That proved very temporary however, because Philipsburg came right back with three scores of their own to retake the lead 5-3, when Alyssa English unloaded a three-run home run and then added another in the bottom of the sixth.
With their playoff run nearly over, the Lady Eagles came back to make one last attempt to continue.
Ashley Ripka singled and Ashley Pennabaker doubled to put runners at second and third for Tyrone with nobody out. Katie Whitby scored Ripka with a base hit and Hilary McNelis walked to load the bases. Kim Cherry hit a tremendous drive to the gap in the right-center field power alley, but Brown made a diving catch for the out. Pennabaker scored on the sac fly, but the Eagles were looking for much more.
“”We all thought Kim had the gap,” said Tyrone softball coach Lois Loncher. “But their right fielder made a super catch.”
Missy Stager singled to reload the sacks again with one out. Megan Turiano lifted a fly ball to right field, where Brown made the catch and fired a perfect strike to the plate to Lady Mountie catcher Abby Peangatelli on one hop, to get Whitby trying to score for the final out of the game.
“It took a perfect throw,” said Loncher, “and I thought even with the throw that Katie was under the tag. I would do the same thing again in that situation.”
Missy Stager knocked in three runs for Tyrone, and had two hits for the 11th seeded Lady Eagles, who finish the season 9-11.
English led the P-O girls with three RBI and English, Rachelle Yarger and Brown each had two hits for the number three seed Lady Mounties (16-5) who will play at second seeded Central Cambria, an 11-2 winner over Cambria Heights on Wednesday, at 4 p.m. today.
“This was just a very good game,” explained Loncher. “Both teams played some really good softball. Neither wanted to quit.
“I was disappointed with the results, but was proud of our girls. They never gave up. This was the final game for our five seniors, Katie Whitby, Hilary McNelis, Meghan McAllister, Missy Stager and Heather Stanton. They have done a lot in Tyrone softball that they can be proud of. Not only have they played a lot of good softball, but each has also done it in the classroom and each is going to further her education at a college.”
Philipsburg-Osceola 6 Tyrone 5
Tyrone – Whitby, cf, 3-2-1; McNelis, p, 1-1-0; Cherry, c, 1-0-1; Stager, ss, 3-0-2; Turiano, 3b, 4-0-1; Stanton, 1b, 3-0-1; McAllister, dp, 3-0-0; Ripka, lf, 3-1-1; Pennabaker, rf, 3-1-1; Bryan, 2b, 0-0-0. TOTALS 24-5-8.
Philipsburg-Osceola – McCamley, ss, 2-1-0; Brown, rf, 3-2-2; Gonder, 3b, 3-0-1; English, 1b, 3-2-2; Yarger, dp, 3-1-2; Burnsworth, cf, 2-0-0; Wilson, lf, 3-0-1, Peangatelli, c, 3-0-1; Demchak, 2b, 0-0-0. TOTALS 25-6-9.
Tyrone 102 000 2 5-8-2.
Philipsburg-Osceola 203 001 X 6-9-1.
2B: (T) Stager, Pennabaker, (PO) Yarger.
HR: (PO) English.
Multiple hits: (T) Stager 2, (PO) Brown 2, English 2, Yarger 2.
RBI: (T) Stager 3, Whitby, Cherry, (PO) English 3, Yarger 2.
SO: (T) McNelis 2, (PO) Murphy 6.
BB: (T) McNelis 1, (PO) Murphy 5.
WP: Murphy LP: McNelis
