Southmoreland softball tops Freeport, advances to 1st WPIAL title game

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 | 6:18 PM

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Todd Bunner couldn't slow the smile creeping across his face. And given the situation, he likely didn't want to.

After two failed semifinal appearances in the past three seasons, Southmoreland finally broke through Wednesday, taking an early four-run lead and holding off a Freeport rally for a 6-4 victory in a WPIAL Class 3A softball semifinal at West Mifflin. The Scotties advanced to the championship for the first time in school history.

“It feels sweet, I'm going to be honest with you,” Bunner said. “We've been so close … and just haven't been over it. It feels so good to be in the championship game.”

No. 3 Southmoreland (9-7) will play No. 1 South Park in the WPIAL championship game May 30 or 31 at Seton Hill.

The Scotties lost to Belle Vernon in the 2015 semifinals and to Ellwood City last season and then dropped the consolation games both years to finish one victory out of the PIAA playoffs. Wednesday's victory automatically qualified them for the state tournament, also a program first.

“(It's) amazing, you have no idea,” said catcher Lexi Klatt, who doubled, homered and drove in a pair of runs. “I can't wait to go to states. This is the first time in Southmoreland history any team went to states, so that's pretty amazing. And I'm glad I could do it with this group of girls.”

Southmoreland closed the regular season on a four-game losing streak and needed a four-run seventh inning to beat Steel Valley in the quarterfinals, but the Scotties are riding a hot streak at the right time.

“I think our mindset (changed),” said second baseman Faith Miller, who drove in two runs. “We knew what we had to do, and we've really been hitting and hitting hard. We've all been driving the ball, and our defense has been pretty good.”

No. 2 Freeport (13-1), which rallied several times for victories during the regular season, nearly pulled off another comeback, twice putting the tying run on base in the final three innings. But Southmoreland freshman pitcher Jessica Matheny and some heads-up defensive plays proved enough to deal the Yellowjackets their first loss of the season.

Freeport put runners on first and second base with one out in the seventh, but Bethany Bunner threw out Ally DeJidas at third after dropping Maya Borghol's shallow fly ball, and Matheny struck out Emily Schmidt to end it.

“I never thought we were out of the game, to tell you the truth, until that last out,” Freeport coach Sam Ross said. “The old 21 outs, that's what we lived by all year, and they got 21 on us. First team to do it.”

Miller gave Southmoreland an early lead with a run-scoring groundout in the first, but Jenna Hildebrand's two-out RBI single tied the game in the bottom of the second.

Southmoreland answered with a four-run third as its first four batters reached base. Miller gave the Scotties the lead for good with a single, Klatt followed with a run-scoring double and Matheny and Emily Eutsey added RBIs.

“A good team like Freeport, undefeated this entire year, if you get up on them, sometimes that just puts that little question in their mind to ‘Hey, this is a team we're going to have to contend with.' We're not just going to lay down,” Todd Bunner said. “You saw them fight back. (They're a) tremendous team. They fought back. It was a great game.”

Freeport cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the third as Ashleigh Schmidt led off with a triple and scored on Tori Radvan's sacrifice fly, DeJidas homered and Borghol scored from first base on an Emily Schmidt single and two fielding errors.

Klatt added an opposite-field homer in the fifth inning, and Matheny stranded two Freeport batters apiece in the fifth and seventh innings. The freshman left-hander yielded four runs — two earned — on eight hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Radvan took the loss for Freeport, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out two.

“Athletics is like life: Sometimes you have a good day, and sometimes you have a so-so day,” Ross said. “I thought Southmoreland was a good-hitting team coming in. I was hoping they'd hit the ball to somebody, and they found some gaps and hit one over the fence.”

Southmoreland will face a familiar opponent in the championship game in South Park, the Scotties' Section 3-3A rival. The Eagles, the defending state champ, beat Southmoreland by scores of 12-7 and 9-4 during the regular season.

“I love this team. I love all the girls,” Klatt said. “I just can't wait to keep playing with them.”

Freeport will play No. 4 Avonworth in the WPIAL consolation game Tuesday at a site and time to be determined, with the winner advancing to the PIAA tournament.

“This one stings pretty good because you want the WPIAL. That's your home title,” Ross said. “I'm proud of the girls. It happens, and it's just unfortunate we needed a couple more runs.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Freeport, Southmoreland