A-C Valley Breaks Out the Bats in Beating Visiting Moniteau

| April 19, 2019


WEST FREEDOM, Pa. (D9Sports) – Going into Thursday’s game with Moniteau, A-C Valley softball coach Bob Bowser said his team was trying to gauge where it was despite a perfect 5-0 record.

(Photo: A-C Valley’s Andrea Meals is greeted by her teammates after hitting a first-inning home run Thursday. Photo by Chris Rossetti)

After a resounding 15-5, five-inning win over the visiting Lady Warriors, who came into the game with a 3-1 KSAC mark, Bowser was very happy.

“This definitely ranks as a big win for us,” Bowser said of beating a Moniteau team that knocked off Clarion last week. “The Redbank victory (April 10) was nice. This is more like icing on the cake. We are riding pretty high right now.”

The Lady Falcons flew high Thursday because of an offense that accumulated 19 hits, including five extra-base hits and got contributions from all nine starters.

“It means a lot,” Bowser said when asked about having everyone in the lineup contribute. “One through nine, we are solid. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1-2 or 7-9, everyone is hitting the ball, everyone is doing their part. It’s where hard work is paying off.”

Syndie Schmidt, who had a team-high four RBIs while going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored said it’s just about every player picking the next player up.

“I think (it’s about) picking each other up after someone makes a mistake or just picking each other up and making sure everyone is positive,” Schmidt said.

Watch more of Schmidt’s thoughts.

What Schmidt talked about in terms of picking each other up was on display in the bottom of the fifth inning when A-C Valley, which had led 12-0 going into the fifth only to see Moniteau avoid the 10-run Mercy Rule at first by scoring five unearned runs in the top of the fifth, shrugged off the tough top of the inning by having all five batters to bat in the bottom of the inning reach base, including a two-run double by Cami McNany, who went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBIs, and a game-ending walk-off single to center by Kelsie Terwilliger that scored McNany. Terwilliger was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.

“I think it shows we don’t really watch the scoreboard the whole game,” Bowser said. “Each at bat they go to work, and they know exactly what they can do and what we expect out of them. It’s one at bat at a time, and everyone does their job.”

Speaking of doing their job, freshman Baylee Blauser did her’s in the circle for the Lady Falcons allowing just four hits on the day and no earned runs, as three errors helped Moniteau score its five runs in the fifth inning.

Blauser’s biggest pitch of the game may have come in the second inning with her team up just 2-0. She was wild in the inning walking the bases loaded. But, with two outs, she got Courtney Stewart to hit a comebacker to the circle, which she tossed to the catcher McNany for a force out at the plate ending the threat.

“I think that was a big thing for Baylee if nothing else a confidence booster,” Bowser said. “Between inning, she came down here in the cage and worked out, squared off a little bit. She got out of her own head, which is big. She realized she is not a freshman anymore but a varsity player.”

Another key moment in the game for A-C Valley, according to Bowser, came in the first inning when sophomore Andrea Meals cracked a two-run home run to center field to give the Lady Falcons a 2-0 lead. It was A-C Valley’s sixth home run in the last two days.

“I think that was a big boost,” Bowser said. “As soon as that ball was going, everyone was hooting and hollering. Everyone was pretty excited.”

Meals finished the day 1-for-3 with the home run, two runs scored and two RBIs, while Blauser was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Myia Page was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Meah Ielase also had a pair of doubles while going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Moniteau got doubles from Lexi Miller and Dolcey Shunk, Miller was 2-for-3 with a run scored with Shunk going 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBIs. Madison Clark also had a two-run single for the Lady Warriors, who fell to 3-7 with the loss.

A-C Valley is back in action Tuesday, April 23, when it faces Karns City at the West Perry Field. Moniteau returns to the diamond April 23 when it hosts Redbank Valley.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Moniteau 000 05 – 5
A-C Valley 206 43 – 15

MONITEAU – 5

Cassidy Claypoole lf 2100, Taylor Shultz 2b 2000, Victoria DeMatteis ph 1100, Abby Rottman ss 2000, Brynne Barger ph 1000, Dolcey Shunk c 2112, Lexi Miller dp 3120, Breanne Noah 1b 0100, Madison Clark 2012, Courtney Stewart rf 3000, Grace Turner rf 0000, Andrea Eiler p 0000. Totals 18-5-4-4.

A-C VALLEY – 15

Emily Wetzel ss 4120, Baylee Blauser p 4230, Paige Klinger cr 0100, Cami McNany c 4432, Andrea Meals 1b 3212, Kelsie Terwilliger 3b 4243, Sydnie Schmidt lf 3224, Meah Ielase 3121, Brogan Armagost 2001, Myia Paige 3022. Totals 30-15-19-15.

LOB: Moniteau 7. A-C Valley 5. Errors: Moniteau 2. A-C Valley 3. 2B: Miller, Shunk, McNany, Schmidt, Ielase (2). HR: Meals. SF: Armagost. DP: Moniteau (Claypoole to Noah).

PITCHING

Moniteau

Andrea Eiler 4 IP, 19 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Eilier pitched to 5 batters in the fifth

A-C Valley

Baylee Blauser 5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 1 K

Winning pitcher: Blauser
Losing pitcher: Eiler


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