Monessen ‘walks off’ with 5-2 win
Edward K.Thompson
The Monessen Lady Greyhounds celebrate around Hannay Yorty after the freshman belted a three-run, walk-off home run to defeat Leechburg, 5-3, Wednesday in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at Peterswood Park.
Ed Thompson
Monessen’s Dan Vatakis and Destiny Habeck celebrate after scoring on Hannah Yorty’s walk-off home run in the Lady Greyhounds’ 5-3 win over Leechburg in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at Peterswood Park.
Monessen pitcher Dana Vatakis winds up before releasing a pitch during Wednesday's WPIAL Class A semifinal against Leechburg at Peterswood Park.
VENETIA — Freshmen Hannah Yorty ended her four RBI performance with a two-out, walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Monessen a dramatic 5-2 victory over Leechburg in the WPIAL Class A semifinals Wednesday afternoon at Peterswood Park.
“I put a good swing on it and I knew it was gone as soon as I started to run for first base,” Yorty said. “That was the hardest hit ball I have hit in a long time. In the at-bat, I was trying to get a bat on the ball because we just needed a hit to win the game. I worked the count a little and I got the inside pitch for the home run.”
The second-seeded Lady Greyhounds (15-3) earned their second consecutive trip the Class A finals and will play top seed and Section 2-A rival West Greene at Seton Hill University next week. Time and date are still to be determined.
Monessen suffered a five-inning 10-0 loss in last year’s title game. The teams split their regular season meetings this season with the road team winning both times.
“We got our money’s worth today,” Monessen coach Bo Teets said. “We showed great composure all day long and just battled to the final pitch. As a freshman, Hannah has been doing the job for us all season. She never gets rattled at the plate. We knew we would more than likely face West Greene again. That’s going to be a great match-up.”
The Lady Greyhounds pounded out 10 hits and that was more than enough for senior ace pitcher Dana Vatakis.
The Robert Morris University commit continued her stellar senior season with a seven-inning gem. The righty allowed two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts and one walk on 99 pitches (72 strikes).
“Everything was working for me today except for my change-up,” Vatakis said. “I just couldn’t locate my change-up, so I relied on my fastball a lot today. It was a tight zone and I just had to make the adjustment. It feels good to get back to the finals again.”
Morgan Pierce was the hard-luck loser for the Lady Blue Devils (13-5), going 6.2 innings and allowing five runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Leechburg will play in the consolation final for a chance at a PIAA playoff berth against Union on Tuesday. Site and time are still to be determined.
Both offenses were held off the scoreboard for the first three innings of the game until Monessen’s Cara Wheeler thumped a one-out, solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.
Leechburg responded with two runs in the top of the fifth, courtesy of Kristen Knapp scoring on a wild pitch and a RBI fielder’s choice by Aubry Skeel.
The Lady Greyhounds quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning when Yorty slammed home a two-out, RBI single that scored Vatakis to tie things up at 2-2.
“We knew today would be a close game,” Teets said. “We schedule tough competition during the regular season so that we would be ready for games like this. We never hung our heads. We just battled every at-bat and we are used to play in close games. These girls feel no pressure when the game is tight.”
Both teams were held scoreless in the sixth inning and Vatakis retired the side in order in the top of the seventh.
Vatakis started the bottom of the seventh with a hard hit single and alertly advanced all the way to third base after a ground out to the third basemen. Destiny Habeck reached base on a bunt single and would later steal second.
Yorty came up to bat with two outs and belted a tape-measured home run to give the Lady Greyhounds the win and a date with West Greene in the finals.
“You can’t really focus on anything else when you are in the batter’s box,” Yorty said. “You have to bring a calm demeanor to the plate. You have to find your pitch and take a good hack at it. We never panicked and we knew we could battle back for the win.”