Uniontown takes charge with win over Brownsville
Christine Pocratsky
Uniontown’s Milissa Lucas slides safely into home against Brownsville’s Tiffany Markovitch during Wednesday’s game at Bailey Park.
Brownsville's Taylor Frost catches an out hit by Uniontown's Emily Frazee during Wednesday's game at Bailey Park.
Uniontown's Leighlyn Guthrie (31) is congratulated by her teammates after her solo homeroom in the first inning of Wednesday's game at Bailey Park.
Uniontown's Jenna Nypaver is safe at first against Brownsville's Leigha Arison during Wednesday's game at Bailey Park.
Uniontown took a large step toward qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs with a 5-2 win over Brownsville in Section 4-AAA softball action Wednesday at Bailey Park.
The game was a battle for third place in the section and Uniontown (5-5 overall) emerged with a 4-2 section record, while Brownsville fell to 3-4 overall and in section.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to make the playoffs. Actually, we should be in a better position than we are,” said Uniontown coach Steve Forsythe. “These girls have all of the tools to be great. We give them all of the guidance that they need. Right now, we’re playing pretty well.”
The Lady Raiders have back-to-back games against winless Derry that could really solidify their playoff position. Uniontown travels to Derry today and hosts the Lady Trojans on Monday.
“If we can win those games, it would give us a lot of confidence,” Forsythe said. “We have some good hitters and we play pretty solid defense. I like how this is shaping up.”
Brownsville coach Jane Bock wasn’t quite as ecstatic as Forsythe after watching her team drop its second close game to Uniontown this season.The Lady Raiders won at Brownsville, 8-6, on opening day.
“Another tough one to lose, for sure, but our season isn’t over,” Bock said. “We always play Uniontown pretty tough, close games. But we made some mistakes and they took advantage of them today.”
Brownsville pitcher Tiffany Markovitch deserved a better fate after giving up only three hits, even though two of them left the park. Leighlyn Guthrie homered in the first inning and Jordan Gibson added a solo shot in the sixth, but in between was where the Lady Raiders won the game.
Brownsville tied the score, 1-1, in the top of the fourth when Markovitch led off with a double to left and scored on Cheyanne Wasko’s triple to right.
In the bottom of the fourth, however, Uniontown scored a pair of runs without the benefit of a base hit when Milissa Lucas reached on an error and Guthrie walked. Lucas scored when Jenna Nypaver reached on a dropped third strike and Guthrie scored on a Gibson ground out.
Brownsville seemed to be getting to Uniontown pitcher Leighlyn Guthrie with five hits in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Lady Falcons managed only two runs.
“You can’t score only two runs when you are playing a team that is about the same as you,” Bock said. “We left too many runners on base, especially in those two innings. In the fourth, we had runners at second and third with nobody out and couldn’t get a run.”
Brownsville also couldn’t keep Guthrie off the bases. After her first inning homer, she drew back-to-back, four-pitch walks and scored both times.
Brownsville hosts Laurel Highlands today.