Jun 8, 2010 By Adam Brewer for The 3 min read

HOLLIDAYSBURG – In any high school sport, a season can swiftly come to an end. In 2010, Waynesburg Central’s softball squad collected 14 regular season wins en route to a Section 2-AA title, two wins in the WPIAL playoffs and a 4-1 loss to undefeated Valley two weeks ago.

On Monday, The Lady Raiders’ season came to a screeching halt with a 7-1 loss to District 6 Champions Philipsburg-Osceola at Legion Field.

This was the first time since 2006 that Waynesburg (16-5) was in the PIAA postseason. The Lady Raiders suffered the same fate as they did yesterday, as they fell to Philipsburg-Osceola (23-1) in the opening round.

After being retired in order in the top of the frame, the Lady Raiders fell behind quickly as Lady Mounties’ clean-up hitter Taylor Harpster launched a three-run homer to dead centerfield on the first pitch.

The next batter was Chelsea Rex, the Lady Mounties’ pitcher, and she blasted a solo home run to give Philipsburg-Osceola a 4-0 lead after the first inning.

“It’s tough to get behind a good team early on in the game,” Waynesburg coach Lars Johnson said. “I think our errors led to their home runs, and that killed us. We know that in the playoffs you cannot make those mistakes. We contained them after that, but it was definitely a rough start for us.”

The steady Lady Raiders’ defense was a little out of sync as they had two infield fielding errors that cost them in the first.

That was all the runs that the Lady Mounties would need as Rex was flawless in the circle as she went seven innings, allowing three hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.

The Lady Raiders had their first scoring chance in the fourth when Emily Bosworth and Brianna Morris hit back-to-back singles with one out, but those runners would be left stranded as the next two batters went down on pop ups.

Rebecca Simpson led off the top of the fifth with an infield single, and advanced to second on a passed ball. Once again, the Lady Raiders couldn’t get the big hit when they had to as Rex struck out the next three batters.

“We thought we would press them and after the second time around we were able to get some bats on balls and get some hits,” Johnson said. “We wanted to work our short game and move runners over, but they limit us. I wasn’t happy with our batter’s approach, we made some mistakes out there.”

The Lady Raiders finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the seventh with two outs when Brittney Orndoff drove in Simpson.

Bosworth was tagged with the loss in her final pitching outing with the Lady Raiders. Besides the two big innings, Bosworth was steady for Waynesburg going six innings, scattering 11 hits with four strikeouts and no free passes.

“We have had a very successful season,” Johnson said. “It’s tough to diminish that, and hats off to all of our seniors. They are great young ladies and will be missed. It’s only matter what you accomplish from this point on, can we continue our run next year. Success is defined on what you put on the field and how you battle, win or lose. Times like these will only make you stronger.”