Bobcats finish Section 3-4A play with one loss on season
CHIPPEWA TWP. — When Beaver beat Quaker Valley and Blackhawk lost to Ambridge on Monday, the Bobcats’ softball team could have rested on its laurels and relaxed, knowing they clinched the section title.
But Beaver didn’t do that. Facing off against Blackhawk, the only team that has beaten the Bobcats this season, Beaver continued to stay hot, thrashing the Cougars 11-2 on Tuesday to improve to 11-1 on the season.
“They didn’t want to give Blackhawk the chance to say, ‘We beat them twice,'" Beaver coach Amy Haggart said. “Even though they knew they took the section yesterday, they went in with something to prove, and they did it.”
In the early part of the season, it seemed like the Bobcats could have healthy competition for the section title. As the season has progressed, though, Beaver has pulled away and established itself as the favorite. Tuesday’s win was another notch on the Bobcats’ belt.
While Blackhawk (8-4) took the early lead in the first inning, as Maddie Young singled to drive in a run, Beaver eventually struck and didn’t look back. A third-inning burst in which Lexi Russell, Lexi Dawson and Devyn Tritsch hit back-to-back-to-back RBI singles, was all the run support Bobcats’ starter Allie Teagle would need.
Teagle went on give up just one more run, an RBI double to Megan Pinkerton in the fifth inning. Though Blackhawk looked as if it could give her trouble after the first inning, Teagle buckled down, striking out 10, walking one and giving up nine hits and two runs in seven innings.
“I just took a deep breath, focused and took it one pitch at a time,” Teagle said. “I’m really proud of our team. We all came together, focused and did what we had to do.”
Each time Blackhawk seemed ready to add a run and pull closer, Teagle seemed to pull through with the clutch pitch and subsequent out, usually by way of her screwball, which she collected most of her strikeouts on.
“Her screwball was on today,” Haggart said. “I told her today in between innings after the second, 'Listen, we’re throwing it until they start hitting it.’ She kept throwing it, they weren’t hitting it, and we kept with it today.”
For Teagle, it was easy to take the first inning in stride, due in part to the calming sense she gets knowing how good her team’s offense is.
Beaver added one more run in the fifth inning, which chased Blackhawk starter Bree Dickton from the game at the completion of the inning. Ang Taylor replaced her, and the Bobcats started rolling, tacking on three runs in the sixth inning and four runs in the seventh.
The Bobcats had nine hits on the game and made good use of them. Russell reached base all five times, going 4-4 and driving in five runs. After her RBI single in the third inning, she added a two-RBI single in the sixth and another two-run single in the seventh. Dawson, who hits right behind her in the cleanup spot, went 3-4 and drove in two runs, her second RBI coming via a single in the fifth inning. The duo of Russell and Dawson has proved fearsome for opponents since Russell was moved up to the three-hole midway through the season.
“They just feed off of each other,” Haggart said. “When one hits, the hitting is contagious. That middle of the lineup, they just go with it.”
With the win, Beaver has now collected victories against all of its sections foes. It’ll now focus its attention on two non-section games against New Brighton and Neshannock before moving onto the playoffs. With a six-game winning streak and confidence riding high, the Bobcats are ready for whatever lies ahead.
“We’re just going to keep pushing forward. We’re going to do everything we can to keep going,” Teagle said. “We’re all just super excited. We’re ready. We think we’re going to do really well.”