Greensburg —
The French Creek Valley American 9-and-10 Year Old softball team has been on the losing end before.
Back on July 5, FCVA was beaten by Cochranton 6-4. However, the Saegertown girls bounced back the next day and beat Cochranton 10-6 to wrap up the District 1 title.
Now, the question is: Can FCVA bounce back again?
The locals will have to dig down deep to get out of pool play at the 9-and-10 Year Old State Championship tournament, where they fell to host team West Point 9-3 Wednesday during in a rain-shortened tournament-opening matchup.
“We were really flat today. Really flat,” said FCVA head coach Mike Young. “I think the travel on the day we played a game really hurt us. Lesson learned on our part. We didn’t put our best foot forward. But we learned from it.”
FCVA will look to rebound against the Milton all-stars today at 3 p.m. Milton was a 12-0 winner in four innings over Mt. Union on Wednesday.
“(West Point) does have some really good hitters on that team,” said Young. “That’s what we expected. It’s the state tournament. We’re going to regroup and come back and play our game (today).”
The top three spots in West Point’s batting order caused the most headaches for FCVA yesterday.
Leadoff batter Mia Schweizer was 1-for-1, walked twice and scored twice.
No. 2 batter Sarah Golden hit a single in each of her at-bats, scored a run each time and drove in two more.
And the third batter, shortstop Tiffany Bruzda, was the biggest worry for FCVA yesterday.
In the top of the first inning, Bruzda punched a single up the middle that scored a run, and the ball rolled past FCVA’s center fielder, allowing another base runner and Bruzda to come around and score, putting West Point ahead 3-0. Bruzda was credited with a single and a three-base error.
Then in the third, Bruzda went back to center field for a two-run, inside-the-park home run that gave West Point a 5-2 lead.
In the fourth, Bruzda deposited a double in the left-center gap, driving in a run. And she would later score on an error, giving West Point four runs in that inning, putting the team up 9-3.
None of the stats in the top of the fifth counted. A severe thunderstorm started rolling in with one out on the board. But West Point had already scored five runs in the frame by that point. And again, Bruzda did the most damage. She went back up the middle for a two-run single and would later score on an error.
Bruzda ended the game 4-for-4 with a homer, a double, four runs scored and six runs batted in. However, with the fifth being wiped away, she was officially 3-for-3 with three runs and four RBIs.
West Point had 12 hits total. Only eight counted on the final stat sheet.
“Give them credit, that was a really good team,” Young said about West Point. “Good sticks.”
FCVA just couldn’t keep up with West Point’s pace on offense. After giving up three runs in the top of the first, the Creek girls responded with two in the bottom half of the inning.
Carlie Schlosser led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a single by Katelyn Young, took third on a wild pitch and came home to score on another wild pitch.
Young would eventually follow Schlosser home on yet another wild pitch.
FCVA was scoreless in the second. Then in the third, trailing 5-2, FCVA had an opportunity to tack on some more runs after loading the bases with one out.
Chloe Luchansky forced one run in after getting beaned on the ankle by a pitch. However, that was all FCVA got out of the inning and, for that matter, the game.
“We were very, very sluggish,” said Mike Young. “Like I said, between the travel and the heat, we didn’t play our ‘A’ game. But the girls realize that. And (today) we have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
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