LAVALE — Through the first six innings, Meyersdale collected two hits and a walk.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh, the Red Raiders (7-4) rallied to force extra innings before completing the comeback in a 6-5 eight-inning win over No. 2 Allegany on Monday.
“It was a very well-played game on both sides,” Meyersdale head coach Tim Miller said. “Hats off to Allegany, they came back the last inning and tied it up. My team needed this win, we’ve took some games on the chin this year. We needed to win a close game, they gutted this out.”
Isabella Sleasman opened the seventh with a triple off the center fielder’s glove before scoring on a wild pitch.
After Amber Long worked a walk, Sarah Hainsworth sent a ground ball into left that drove in both runners to even the score at 3.
“I take blame for this loss, we did so many small things that weren’t right,” Allegany head coach Dave Winner said. “Baserunning, fielding, we weren’t prepared tonight. They’re a good team, if you don’t play good against good teams, you lose, that’s what happened.”
A groundout gave Meyersdale a 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
“I think Jordyn (Sneathen) got a little tired, and sometimes that happens quick,” Winner said. “I guess they just saw her a couple times and had a couple hits.”
After two quick outs from the Campers (13-3), Savannah Walton doubled to left.
She scored three pitches later on a double from Mykah Baker into left center as Alco forced an eighth inning.
A passed ball and a Hainsworth single to center retook the lead for the Raiders in the top of the eighth at 6-4.
“I don’t know, hitting’s contagious,” Miller said of what sparked the rally. “We were able to get the break we needed, we had the momentum shift and were able to score some runs there.”
In the bottom of the eighth, the ghost runner at second scored on a groundout, but Alco failed to put another baserunner on.
Meyersdale scored its other run on a groundout in the first.
Allegany’s runs came on a triple from Desi Hilton in the third and Mackenzie Monahan’s (Frostburg) two-run base hit in the fifth.
Madison Berkley allowed three runs off seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts across four innings for the Raiders.
“Her changeup was working well,” Miller said. “She was hitting those spots, keeping them off balance a little bit.”
Sneathen went 6 1/3 innings as the Campers’ starter, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Allegany out-hit Meyersdale 9-6 with Hilton, Walton, Baker and Maylee Blank each recording a pair.
For the Campers, Monday’s game was a rare low-scoring, competitive match.
Out of 16 games this season, it was only the fifth that was decided by four runs or less.
“It’s important, we’re gonna learn from it,” Winner said. “We have four games left, hopefully we win all four of them. Congratulations to them, they played better than we did today.”
Allegany heads to Southern (9-5) on Tuesday before traveling to No. 3 Northern (9-4) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.