Section showdown
Uniontown tops cross-town rival Laurel Highlands
Uniontown found itself down one run in the bottom of the third inning when Lyric McLee came to bat with one out.
The Uniontown senior, who also plays flag football and competes in track & field for the Red Raiders, had missed some playing time during the early part of the season due to a torn ligament in her left ankle, but was back and ready to play.
Laurel Highlands’ Payton Senge was dealing early in Monday’s Section 2-4A softball contest at Bailey Park, as the Mustangs’ starting pitcher had sat down the last five Uniontown batters, including four by strikeout, and had an 0-2 count on McLee.
McLee fouled off two pitches before taking a ball and fouling off a third pitch. She worked the count to 2-2 before hitting a ball to second base and hustling to first to provide the home team with a base runner and one down in the inning.
After McLee reached, the Red Raiders started to hit, as Katie and Juliet White hit back-to-back doubles to take a 2-1 lead before adding a third run on an error for a 3-1 advantage.
Uniontown would add four more runs for a 7-1 victory over its cross-town rival.
The Red Raiders improved to 2-2 in section play and 4-2 overall, while Laurel Highlands dropped to 2-2 in section and overall play.
Elizabeth Forward leads the section at 6-0. West Mifflin is second at 4-1.
“This section is the hardest in 4A,” Uniontown coach Jason White said. “There are some good teams in the other sections, but top to bottom, this is the hardest section.
“I shifted my lineup a little bit and spread it out. I think I have some great players that can handle it. Payton is a good player, but I think we were able to handle her better the second time around in the lineup.”
McLee, who plays quarterback for Uniontown’s flag football team, was looking to make contact and let her speed take over in setting up the home team’s three-run third inning.
“I knew she (Senge) was a good pitcher, and I had to watch out for what she was throwing, but I was able to take what I wanted and came around to score,” McLee said. “We have a good pitcher in Emmaleigh (Noah), so this wasn’t anything new for her. She has been doing this for all four years of her high school career. As a team, we all lift each other up when we are down. It was frustrating not being able to play the first couple of weeks, but I am very happy to be back and playing.”
The Red Raiders scored one run in the fourth for a 4-1 lead when starting pitcher Emmaleigh Noah singled to right field, stole second and third base before scoring on an error.
Noah yielded one earned run on four hits over seven innings. She had two strikeouts and walked one. Noah forced 13 ground ball outs, two flyouts to McLee in center field, a lineout for a game-ending double play, a lineout to second base, and Katie White threw a strike to Lauren White to gun down a Mustang base runner who was attempting to steal second.
“Emmaleigh did a great job of keeping the ball down,” Jason White said. “Other than the one home run that she left up and fat, she did a great job of keeping the ball down. I have a really good infield defense, so it’s going to be hard to beat us there.”
Senge allowed six runs, but only three were earned, on seven hits over five innings. She had nine strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter. The sophomore hit a solo home run over the wall in center field for a lead off the top of the second inning. Senge also singled.
“We had a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but a couple of errors cost us several runs,” Laurel Highlands coach Pat Livingston said. “We have to put this one behind us and get ready for our next couple of games. We have three more section games this week.
“Payton (Senge) has been phenomenal all year long, but we can’t rely on her all the time. We have to give her some run support. Uniontown has the senior pitcher, who was great tonight. We put the bat on the ball, but didn’t get it through the infield.”
Harlie Dirda, who singled in the first inning, relieved Senge in the sixth, and yielded one earned run on two hits with a strikeout and no walks in one inning.
Emme Caveliere singled to right field in the seventh for the visitors before Uniontown turned a double play to end the contest.
The Red Raiders added two runs in the fifth for a 6-1 advantage. McLee reached on an infield single and advanced to third base on Katie White’s single to center field. McLee was forced out as she attempted to score on Juliet White’s sacrifice bunt, but both Katie and Juliet White touched home plate on Alivia Noah’s base hit to right field.
Uniontown scored its final run in the sixth when Sincere Dunlap up the middle, advanced to third on Sadie Savage’s double to left field and scored on McLee’s groundout. Noah singled to right field in the first.