CUMBERLAND — Jordyn Sneathen had her no-hitter broken up with one out to go against rival Fort Hill, but that was about the only thing that didn’t go Allegany’s way Monday.
Sneathen struck out the next batter to settle for a complete-game one-hitter, Desi Hilton racked up four RBIs to spur the offense and the second-ranked Campers took down Fort Hill, 8-1, at Washington Middle School.
“I thought we were a little slow starting,” Allegany manager Dave Winner said. “MaeLeigh (Plummer) pitched a great game. She kept us off-balance.
“We stayed with it the whole game. We played well. Jordyn pitched well. We just have to clean up a couple small things.”
Allegany (9-2, 3-0 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) secured the regular-season sweep over Fort Hill (4-8, 2-4 WestMAC) with the victory.
After an error-filled start afforded Allegany a 3-1 lead in the early stages, Sneathen and her counterpart Plummer strung together three straight scoreless innings.
Allegany changed that in the sixth frame.
Sneathen served a two-out, two-run single to right field to make it 5-1, and an inning later, Hilton showcased her power launching a bases-clearing double over the center fielder’s head.
“We played tough. Top of five it was 3-1. We showed a lot of grit,” Fort Hill manager Jason McMahan said. “Jordyn Sneathen pitched a heck of a game. She kept us off-balance.”
That was more than enough support for Sneathen, who allowed an unearned run in the first inning but settled in throwing six shutout innings to the end.
The right-hander gave up just one hit to Paetyn Davis, striking out 12 and walking four in seven innings of work.
Plummer, who is signed to James Madison for track and field, delivered a solid performance on the other side, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The RHP struck out three and walked three.
“MaeLeigh pitched well,” McMahan said. “When you struggle hitting and you can’t get your base-runners in, it makes it pretty difficult to win.”
Plummer wasn’t helped by her defense early, which committed three errors in the first two innings that resulted in two unearned runs.
Both teams settled in after sloppy starts — an Allegany error also led to a run in the first frame — as neither squad committed an error over the final five innings.
Allegany out-hit Fort Hill, 10-1, and three Campers finished with multiple hits.
Hilton was 2 for 4 with a double, two stolen bases and four RBIs, Mackenzie Monahan (Frostburg State signee) was 2 for 3 and Sneathen was 2 for 5 with two RBIs.
Mykah Baker had an RBI single in the first inning, and she impressed in right field, making a diving catch on a slicing fly ball off the bat of Tatum Bishop into foul territory for the final out of the third inning.
Haley Metz pitched in relief for Fort Hill, allowing three runs on two hits over the final 1 1/3 innings.
Allegany was again without its starting center fielder Avery Miller (Penn State track and field signee), who is being held out until she is 100% percent healthy, Winner said.
Fort Hill is at Somerset on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., and Allegany hosts No. 5 Petersburg (8-5) at the same time at Lions Field.
“I like where we’re at right now,” Winner said. “The kids are getting confident. They’re starting to believe in themselves as a team. Yeah this isn’t last year’s team, but we’re still pretty good.”