WEXFORD — The similarities between Jefferson-Morgan and Smethport in the first round of the PIAA Class A softball playoffs Monday were obvious to spot, right down to the uniforms.
The score reflected as much, but unfortunately for the Lady Hubbers, they were on the short end of a 2-1 decision at North Allegheny High School.
“I thought we were the mirror image of one another, right down to the uniforms,” said Smethport coach Dr. Jim Kane, whose team, like the Lady Rockets, wears orange and black. “They just hit the ball a little better than we did.”
Smethport’s lineup, which had been scoring runs in bunches for most of the season, was stymied by Jefferson-Morgan’s Maddie Ludrosky. She yielded just one hit and an unearned run, which proved to be just enough to best Smethport hurler Brooke Kane-Walker.
“They see a little better pitching than we do and that makes a difference when you get into games like this,” Kane said. “It was a well-played game by both teams.”
It was a far cry from last year for Smethport, as they lost 11-1 to Neshannock in the same round and at the same venue.
Jefferson-Morgan did strike early for a run in the first-inning, but they also found offense tough to come by.
Morgan Simkovic’s RBI single drove in Reagan Rush, who led off the game with a walk, but Kane-Walker limited the damage from there.
Ludrosky, meanwhile, was in the zone right from the get-go, allowing just two of the first 14 batters she faced to reach base – walks to the Burdick sisters, Katie in the first inning and Quinn in the fourth.
“We couldn’t get any offense started, but kudos to their pitcher,” Coach Kane said. “She did a nice job. She pitched up and away on us and we had trouble handling that. We moved up on the plate and moved up toward her and we were still hitting everything off the end of the bat. We kept putting the ball in play but we didn’t hit it with any authority.”
The Lady Rockets struck again in the third, as Camryn Dugan led off the inning with a double to the wall in right and was brought in on an RBI single by Ludrosky.
Kane-Walker settled into a groove after that, however, limiting the Lady Rockets (16-2) to just a pair of hits the rest of the game.
“She looked a little tight in the beginning, but I don’t think it was because of anything mental,” Kane said of his star hurler. “I think it was the bus trip down here. The kids still had their bus legs underneath them. Mentally, we were ready to play.”
Smethport got life offensively in the fifth inning, without the benefit of a hit.
With one out, Abbey Woodard reached on a throwing error, advancing to second on the play. Ludrosky rebounded by striking out Alana Durphy, but Baylee Brien hit another ball on the infield that wasn’t fielded cleanly, bringing in Woodard and giving Smethport a run it desperately needed.
“The kids are going to make mistakes sometimes,” said Jefferson-Morgan coach Tony Barbetta. “We made three today, three we don’t normally make. I think it was just nerves.”
Smethport made a serious run at tying the game in the sixth, as Katie Burdick hit a sharp grounder that Dugan wasn’t able to field cleanly and Nicole Nolte followed with the Lady Hubs’ lone hit of the game, giving Smethport runners on first and second.
Ludrosky was able to bare down, however, inducing a fly out to right by Morgan Okerlund and a pop up to third by Molly Lord to end the threat.
That ultimately turned out to be the best chance Smethport had to tie the game, as Ludrosky set the side down in order to end the game, getting Brien to strike out after a seven-pitch at-bat to finish it.
“As the game went on we got our game legs under us, but I wish we would have hit better. That’s just the bottom line,” Coach Kane said.
That being said, Kane was immensely proud of his squad, which finished the season with a record of 19-3.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Kane said. “And I hope they (Jefferson Morgan) go a long way. I’m happy for them. It’s like we were looking at ourselves.”
