LAVALE — Five of the seven runs scored by Allegany came with two outs in Monday’s West Region I semifinal.
It ended up being the deciding factor that led the top-seeded Campers (15-3) to a 7-0 shutout over No. 4 Southern.
“I thought it was a well-played game both ways,” Allegany head coach Dave Winner said. “Southern’s much improved, they’ve improved from the beginning of the year. I thought we played pretty well, we had one or two mistakes. Jordyn (Sneathen) pitched a great game.”
It began in the bottom of the first after a pair of quick strikeouts from Adeline Wilson for the Rams (13-8).
The Campers kept the inning alive off three consecutive doubles from Sneathen, Mykah Baker and Savannah Walton.
Baker’s and Walton’s each drove in a run as Alco took a 2-0 lead.
“It’s a tough one, bottom line you gotta hit,” Southern head coach Amber Hill said. “You can’t win a ball game not scoring runs. Jordyn throws well, we had to be more disciplined in the box, hopefully rattle her more early. Bottom line is, we have to get timing down and we gotta score.”
After another quick two outs in the bottom of the second, Mackenzie Monahan (Frostburg State commit) sent a double over the left fielder’s head for two runs.
Once again in the fourth, the first two Campers were quickly retired.
After Maylee Blank and Desi Hilton singled to keep the frame alive, Monahan sent a line drive single over the shortstop to stretch Allegany’s lead to 5-0.
“We can’t get that third out, when we have the ball in the air that long, we have to make those plays,” Hill said. “We gotta play do-or-die ball. The routine ground balls, we have to make those plays. Teams like Allegany, they’re gonna capitalize on that over and over.”
Monahan drove in two more runs in the sixth on a popup that dropped into shallow right field.
Monahan finished 3 for 4 with five RBIs while Savannah Walton went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Sneathen added a pair of hits including a double.
“The kids taking one pitch at a time, one bat at a time,” Winner said of the two-out rallies. “Doesn’t care if it’s 1-0, 2-0, the approach is the same.”
Sneathen went the distance for the Campers, allowing two hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts.
Wilson was charged with four earned runs on 13 hits with four strikeouts for the Rams.
Wilson also recorded both of Southern’s hits, a pair of singles.
“We just have this mental block when it comes to Allegany,” Hill said. “We just cannot get over in the box, it’s a mindset for us. We just struggle getting the timing, I think this is so many years of them being a powerhouse. We just have to figure out how to overcome that.”
Alco hadn’t played since May 1 at Northern which was suspended with the Campers leading 6-4 in the top of the sixth due to thunderstorms.
The last completed game came on April 29 against Southern.
“Practice gets old this time of year,” Winner said of the nearly two-week gap between games. “When it’s raining, we’re in the gym just hitting, we’d rather be outside playing games.”
The Rams’ season came to an end along with the high school careers of Jordan Rush, Miranda Martin and Carly Wilt.
“Overall, I’m very pleased,” Hill said of the season. “We’re very young, we’re young grade-wise, game mentality-wise. I’m very excited for next season. These three seniors are probably the toughest ever, but I’ll take this season.”
Allegany advances to the Region Final on Wednesday against No. 2 seed Northern (15-4) which defeated No. 3 Mountain Ridge (11-8) in the other semifinal 12-4.