EDINBORO —
Ever since a 2-1 loss to McLane this past Saturday, the Cochranton Junior League All-Stars felt that they had some unfinished business with the girls from Edinboro.
Well, Cochranton got its revenge. But there is still some business left unfinished.
Thursday night at the Edinboro Little League Complex, Cochranton forced the if-necessary game for the 2012 District 1 Junior League title, beating previously unbeaten McLane 9-5.
The two will now meet today at 6 p.m. in Cochranton for the ultimate final.
“They can’t quit,” said Cochranton head coach Darwin DuPont. “They’ve just got to be ready. This will be five games in a row. Monday through Friday we’ve had five games in a row. It’s been tough keeping it going. But they can’t quit.”
To pull off the win yesterday, Cochranton knew it had to change its approach at the plate against McLane pitcher Erica Suprynowicz.
“They took too many pitches the last time we played them,” said DuPont. “They took that second strike every time. And we had to get after them to get after it. So they got aggressive and they put the pressure on.”
The adjustment worked. Where Cochranton had just two base hits in the last game with McLane, it notched six this time around. And, just as beneficial to Cochranton’s cause, it also hit into seven McLane errors.
“That’s probably the most errors these girls have made all year,” said McLane coach Doug Hecker. “It is what it is. It happens.”
McLane had two errors in the first inning to put two on board. Katy Dunn drove one of those runners in with a groundout. Then Makala Wyant sent in the other with a single to center.
Cochranton then erupted for six runs in the fourth inning. Cochranton had the bases loaded with one out following back-to-back singles by Brianna Proctor and Ariel Smith and a fielder’s choice by Kendra Nemeth.
A McLane error allowed Proctor and Smith to both score. Then another error loaded the bases again. Kinter then punched a single up the middle to bring home two runs. Then Dunn added a double to left-center to score Kinter. Cochranton now led 8-1.
Cochranton tacked on its final run in the sixth. Mackenzie Hawley drew a walk, moved to third on a single by Dunn, and then scored on McLane’s seventh and final error of the game.
McLane couldn’t come up with a sufficient answer. One reason was that Cochranton played a considerably cleaner game defensively, logging just two errors. Another reason was that Cochranton had a couple strong performances in the circle.
Starting pitcher Brittany Jackson allowed just one run on one hit over the first three innings. She walked two and struck out six, including all three batters in the first.
McLane got its only run off Jackson in the second. Kyra Piotrowski led the inning off with a walk. Then Emma Hecker knocked her in with a two-out single to center.
Dunn finished the game off for Cochranton. She allowed four runs (none earned) on six hits and one walk while fanning five.
McLane had its best inning against Dunn in the fifth. A Cochranton error and a walk put two aboard. Dunn got the next two batters out. But Suprynowicz kept the inning going with an RBI single that took a hard bounce over the head of Wyant at third base. Then Piotrowski angled a triple into right field that scored two more. And Piotrowski later came home on Cochranton’s second error of the game.
That burst cut Cochranton’s lead to 8-5. But that was as close as McLane would get.
“That’s one nice thing about being in the winners’ bracket, you know. We’ve still got to play (today),” said coach Hecker.
Asked if his girls will bounce back, he said, “You have to. You have to at this point, you’ve got another game to play.”
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