The Tyrone girls softball team ripped Bellwood-Antis 15-0 in five innings on Saturday morning to improve their record to 4-3. The game had originally been scheduled for April 2. Bellwood-Antis, which is very young and inexperienced has been forced to learn on the run. Saturday was the fourth game for the Lady Blue Devils in four days.
Tyrone junior Hilary McNelis allowed one hit, struck out seven and walked one to pick up the win. The Lady Eagles were near perfect on defense, committing only one error as McNelis limited the Lady Blue Devils to just three base runners.
On offense McNelis had two hits and two runs batted in, and Kim Cherry, Stefani Bryan and Ashley Pennabaker each drove in two runs to lead the Lady Eagles. McNelis and Heather Stanton hit doubles for the only extra-base hits of the contest.
Tyrone benefited from 15 walks and five B-A errors.
“Bellwood-Antis has come a long way this year,” said Tyrone coach Lois Loncher. “Kim Cherry’s two-out two-run single in the first inning was big for us, probably the biggest hit of the game. It gave us some early breathing room and with Hilary pitching that gave us a definite edge. We weren’t exactly blowing them away in the first three innings. Early in the game Detwiler was keeping the ball around the plate for Bellwood, and they made some nice at bats. They did have some miscues and that really hurt them. Alex is doing a good job in bringing their girls a long way from the beginning of the season. I have been there and I don’t want to do it again. The Bellwood-Antis parents and fans as well as the girls just have to be patient. Better times are coming, if they can just have confidence and keep working to improve.”
Becka Forney had the only hit for the Lady Blue Devils.
Heather Detwiler took the loss for Bellwood-Antis, striking out one and walking seven.
“Tyrone is a well-coached team that hits the ball well and their defense doesn’t allow many opportunities to score,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Alex Sitman. “Hilary McNelis is the best pitcher we have faced and her ability to mix pitches really kept our hitters off-balance. She is a great athlete, on the mound and at the plate.
“Our girls played hard and kept it close the first three innings. We made some good defensive stops in the outfield and infield. Becka Forney had a good day at the plate and overall we were pleased with how the girls hit against the caliber of pitching we faced. With three league games this week, this game will help us prepare for what’s ahead.”
Bellwood-Antis dropped a 20-2 decision to Altoona on Friday at Logan Elementary field.
Altoona opened with 11 runs in the bottom of the first and after the Lady Blue Devils put a pair of tallies on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning, came back with nine more in the bottom of the frame to end the contest early.
Laura Cresswell reached base on an error in the B-A second and Pam Weyant was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up into scoring position on a passed ball. Heather Detwiler stroked a single down the third base line to get both runners home. Chelsea Kephart took the loss for B-A.
This was the first win for Altoona (1-4) since 2002. Megan Fee and Kari Huber combined to pitch the victory. Brittany Kleiner led the attack for the Lady Mountain Lions with four hits and five RBIs, Kelsey Mulhollem had a double and two singles and the Conerby sisters accounted for five runs, with Jen Conerby driving in three runs and Jess Conerby knocking in two more.
Both squads are in action today-Tyrone will play Mount Union at home at 4:30 p.m., while the Lady Blue Devils (0-8) travel to Bishop Guilfoyle to play the Lady Marauders at 4 p.m.
Tyrone 15 Bellwood-Antis 0
TYRONE – Ripka, cf, 4-1-0; Stanton, 1b, 4-2-1; Stager, 2b, 4-0-1; McNelis, p, 3-4-2; Cherry, c, 3-1-1; Bryan, 3b, 3-2-1; Catich, ss, 1-3-0; Schreckengost, lf-rf, 3-1-1; Pennabaker, rf, 1-0-1; McAllister, lf, 0-1-0 TOTALS 26-15-8.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Forney, ss, 2-0-1; Detwiler, p-3b, 1-0-0; Myers, 3b, 2-0-0; Burns, c, 2-0-0; Pfahler, cf, 2-0-0; Narehood, 2b, 2-0-0; Cresswell, rf, 1-0-0; O’Donnell, ph, 1-0-0; Kephart, p, 0-0-0; Riley, rf, 2-0-0; Weyant, lf, 2-0-0. TOTALS 17-0-1.
Tyrone 212 46 15-8-1.
Bellwood-Antis 000 00 0-2-5.
Multiple Hits: T- McNelis 2.
2B: T- McNelis 1, Stanton 1.
RBI: T- McNelis 2, Cherry 2, Bryan 2, Pennabaker 2.
SO: T- McNelis 7, BA- Detwiler 1.
BB: T- McNelis 1, BA- Detwiler 7, Kephart 8.
WP: McNelis LP: Detwiler
