Opportunistic Tigers beat Cardinals 5-3
Apr. 21—COCHRANTON — Maplewood turned a couple of Cochranton errors into runs and played stout defense in a 5-3 Region 3 win on Thursday.
In the top of the fifth, Maplewood scored on a Cochranton error to take the lead 3-2. In the seventh, the Tigers scored on another error to take a 4-2 lead. Sheila Despenes belted an RBI single to put her team ahead 5-2.
"We've been working on base running really hard in practice and telling them how important it is," Maplewood head coach Brad Crawford said. "Today they listened to the coaches and it was go, go, go."
The Cardinals didn't give up. In the bottom of the seventh, Brooklyn Needler reached first on an error would score to cut the deficit to two runs with only one out.
Crawford called a coaches time out to chat with sophomore pitcher Rhinn Post and the rest of the infielders.
"The message was 'Calm down, all we need is outs," Crawford said. "'Don't worry about the runners on base. Get the outs and we're done.'"
Post responded with a strikeout then forced the Cardinals into a ground out to seal the game.
"Every win is a step above and further. It's a confidence builder the whole way," Crawford said. "We've been playing really well for a week and a half to two weeks. Every day we get better and better."
Post had five strikeouts in the win. Behind her, Madison Eimer made a couple impressive grabs and throws at shortstop. In the outfield, McKenna Crawford was solid at centerfield.
Offensively, Maplewood had six hits with two from Jocelyn Lane and two from Maddy Banik.
"We've always been solid on defense, but we got the bats going today," Crawford said. "I didn't get to play the short game like I wanted to, but I didn't need it."
On the other side, Cochranton managed four hits and had five errors.
"We gotta clean it up, plain and simple," Cochranton head coach Mark McGuire said, "We booted more stuff than they did and it was the difference in the game by far."
Cochranton is 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the region. The Cardinals will play a non-region game at Lakeview on Monday.
"We just need to play fundamental softball," McGuire said. "Don't quit, don't give in and get rid of some of the easy mistakes, the ordinary mistakes, and we'll be fine."
Maplewood is 5-1 overall and 5-1 in the region. The Tigers sit behind Cambridge Springs (6-0) in the region standings. Maplewood will play at Eisenhower on Tuesday in a region matchup.
"I want to be right at the top of the region. I want this region bad," Crawford said. "These girls want it bad and these coaches want it bad. We're playing to win, that's the bottom line."
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Maplewood (5)
(AB-R-H-BI) Lane 4-2-2-0, Despenes 4-0-1-1, Mc. Crawford 4-0-1-0, Kope 2-1-0-0, Eimer 3-1-0-0, Hlopick 3-0-0-0, Banik 3-0-2-2, Whitman 2-0-0-0, Neely 1-1-0-0, Post 3-0-0-0. Totals 29-5-6-3.
Cochranton (3)
(AB-R-H-BI) Douglas 4-0-0-0, Hoffman 4-0-0-0, Freyermuth 3-1-1-0, Ewing 2-1-1-0, Hansen 3-0-1-0, Needler 3-1-0-0, Williams 2-0-1-2, Miller 3-0-0-1, Swarts 1-0-0-0, Miller 1-0-0-0, McClain 1-0-0-0. Totals 27-3-4-3.
Maplewood 020 010 2 — 5 6 3
Cochranton 000 200 1 — 3 4 5
BATTING
2B: M — Banik.
PITCHING
(IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB) M — Post WP 7-4-3-2-5-1; C — Needler LP 7-6-5-2-9-1.
Records: Maplewood 5-1; Cochranton 5-5.
Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at atopor@meadvilletribune.com.
