May 5, 2010 By Kevin Harrison for The 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Jennifer Stefano scored from second on a base hit by Tommi Nickelson in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Connellsville a 3-2 win over Norwin and lock up a playoff berth out of Section 1-AAAA. “This team has a lot of character. They really stuck together today,” Falcons head coach Tommy Nickelson said. “Every team we’ve played has improved during the year. I think we’ve improved also. We’ve got to stay on top of things.”

The Lady Falcons had trouble against the Knights Jamie Robinson, whom kept the Falcons off balance with a nice changeup mixed in with her fastball, striking out nine during the game.

“I think Jamie has the best changeup in the section,” Norwin’s Marc Boban said. “We had our chances but we just didn’t make the plays today. That’s one of the things we’ve got to continue to work on.”

The Knights (3-6, 8-9), took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, as Anais Propojas singled to open the inning. She was forced at second on Nikki Sich’s sacrifice bunt. Abbey Zorzi then connected on a fastball from Megan Uher, sending it over the center field fence for a two-run shot.

The Falcons (6-3, 8-5) got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning on a leadoff home run by Alena Dragovich. “Alena’s been in a little bit of a slump. It was nice to see her break out of it with a big hit today,” Nickelson said.

The Lady Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Julie Cramer singled to open the inning. She moved to second on a past ball, then advanced to third on Cassie Show’s groundout to short. Nickelson followed with a line drive to third that was snagged by Zorzi. Cramer was caught off the bag but managed to safely slide back to third just before Zorzi to avoid the double play.

With Dragovich at the plate and two-out, Cramer was able to draw a throw from the catcher, Sich. The throw was wild, allowing Cramer to score.

Uher held the Norwin bats in check the rest of the way. That allowed to Falcons to come up with the winning run. Stefano singled to start off the bottom of the seventh. Katie Hall laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to second. Robinson struck out Cramer for the second out and then walked Show putting runners at first and second. Nichelson followed with a single to left and Stefano scored from second, sliding under a high throw, giving the Falcons the win.

“I’m sure this win puts us into the playoffs as the third place team,” Nickelson said. “Hempfield and Latrobe are tied for first, but we’re in there. That’s what we were looking for.”