The Tyrone Lady Eagles need to play well in the last part of their season to get into post season play. Wednesday night they took a step in the wrong direction, falling to Bald Eagle Area 6-0.
The game started well for the Lady Eagles when pitcher Hilary McNelis struck out two batters in the first inning in which Bald Eagle Area failed to score.
Katie Whitby got things started for Tyrone in the bottom half of the inning by drawing a leadoff walk. Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, Bald Eagle Area pitcher Brittany Reese would not walk another batter the entire game. Missy Stager bunted Whitby to second base with one out, but McNelis grounded out to end the inning.
Melanie Stover got things rolling for Bald Eagle Area with a leadoff triple, and she scored on a wild pitch. McNelis regained her composure and retired the side in order.
After Tyrone went quietly in the bottom half of the second, Bald Eagle Area struck again in the top of the third. Brittany Kilmer led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, and after a pop out, moved to third on a single. With runners at first and third with one out, a McNelis pitch got past catcher Kim Cherry. The ball bounced sharply off the fence directly back to Cherry who tossed the ball to McNelis who was able to tag Kilmer out at the plate. An error would allow the run from second to score, but Tyrone escaped any major damage and trailed by two.
Tyrone couldn\’t answer in the bottom of the third, but McNelis was able to retire Bald Eagle Area in order in the fourth.
After Reese struck out the first two Tyrone batters in the bottom of the fourth,
McNelis slapped a single to center for the Lady Eagle\’s first hit. Reese made sure McNelis was stranded when she got Cherry to ground out to end the inning.
Bald Eagle Area took advantage of another Lady Eagle miscue in the fifth inning to put another run on the scoreboard. After McNelis struck out Courtney Garner, Kilmer drew another walk and moved to second on a ground out. A pass ball moved her to third, and she scored on an error. Cherry made sure the scoring stopped there by throwing out Michelle Noll to end the inning.
Ashley Ripka tried to ignite a Lady Eagle rally in their half of the fifth with an infield single, but she was retired when Bald Eagle Area turned a controversial double play. Reese fielded the ball, threw to the ball the second base, but Noll did not appear to be on the bag. She threw to first to complete the twin killing.
Bald Eagle Area made the score 4-0 with two singles in the sixth. Tyrone got a base runner in the bottom of the inning on an error, but they were unable to capitalize.
Jackie Penland led off the top of the seventh with a triple and scored the first of two insurance runs Bald Eagle Area put across the plate in the seventh when Garner singled. Garner moved to second on a pass ball, and Vanessa Lyle knocked her in with an RBI single to make the score 6-0.
The Lady Eagles began hitting the ball well in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally came up short. McNelis singled to lead off the inning, but was retired on a sharp grounder hit to second by Cherry. Cherry moved to second on Ripka\’s second single, but would get no farther. Heather Stanton crushed a liner to first, but Kilmer snatched it out of the air for the second out. Reese got the final out of the inning on a grounder to second making the final score 6-0.
“We expected a performance like this from Brittany Reese. She keeps the ball down in the zone, and it can be tough to hit,” said head coach Lois Loncher.
McNelis and Ripka accounted for Tyrone\’s four hits, each one hitting two.
Bald Eagle Area 6 Tyrone Area 0
BALD EAGLE AREA – Lyle, ss, 4-0-1; M. Noll, 2b, 4-1-1; Reese, p, 4-1-1; D. Noll, 3b, 3-0-0; Stover, c, 3-1-2; Maney, cf, 3-0-0; Penland, rf, 3-1-1; Garner, lf, 3-1-1; Kilmer, 1b, 1-1-0. TOTALS 28-6-7.
TYRONE AREA – Whitby, cf, 2-0-0; McAllister, dp, 3-0-0; Stager, 2b, 2-0-0; McNelis, p, 3-0-2; Cherry, c, 3-0-0; Ripka, lf, 3-0-2; Stanton, 1b, 3-0-0; Catich, ss, 3-0-0; Bryan, 3b, 2-0-0, Pennabaker, rf, 0-0-0; Schreckengost, cr, 0-0-0. TOTALS 24-0-4.
Bald Eagle Area 001 011 2 6-7-1.
Tyrone Area 000 000 0 0-4-3.
3B: Stover 1, Penland 1.
RBI: Stover 1, Garner 1, Lyle 1.
SO: McNelis 6, Reese 6.
BB: McNelis 2, Reese 1.
WP: Reese LP: McNelis
