Senior night for Bradford softball didn’t end the way the Lady Owls wanted it to, as Bradford (1-11) fell to Port Allegany 7-2.
But to their credit, the Owls never mailed it in. Bradford scored both of its runs in the seventh inning, nearly batting around in the lineup as they refused to give in despite the large deficit.
Bradford had several opportunities at the plate in the early going. In the first inning, the Lady Owls loaded the bases with two outs, but a hard-hit ball to third resulted in an easy out.
In the very next inning, Bradford was able to get a runner to third but that opportunity also went by the wayside.
After Port Allegany (6-7) took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Makenzie Burr, Bradford starter Kaylee Brown was able to strand a runner on third to end the second inning.
But the Lady Gators made better use of their chances in the third, as Hannah Lathrop ripped a two-run double to up the lead to 3-0. Two batters later, Cailey Barnett drove in another run on an RBI groundout to second to make it 4-0.
Over the next few innings, Burr took command on the mound for the Lady Gators. Despite only finishing with two strikeouts, Burr forced the Lady Owls into numerous pop ups and fly balls, many of those coming early in the count and thus allowing her arm to stay fresh.
Lathrop came up with another big hit in the sixth inning, driving in two more runs on a bloop single that landed perfectly in between three Bradford fielders.
While Brown gave up her share of runs, she also did a good job of working out of some tight spots. In the fourth inning, the Lady Gators had runners on second and third with two out. But Brown was able to come up with one of her six strikeouts on the day to end the inning. In addition to those six ‘Ks’, Brown did not walk a single batter.
After adding another run in the top of the seventh, Port Allegany entered the bottom half up 7-0. You couldn’t blame the Bradford hitters if they chose to simply go through the motions.
But even down seven in the seventh inning, the Lady Owls refused to go down quietly.
Makenzie Smith started the inning with a single; she was immediately brought home by another well-hit ball from Kirstin Siffrin.
Two batters later, she too crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by Hannah Woodel to make it 7-2. Two more singles from Brown and Makenzee Maley, plus a Gators error that put Emily Warner on base offered hope of a miraculous comeback. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, as Burr forced a pop-up to shortstop to end the game.
Both Brown and Siffrin finished with two hits for the Lady Owls.
