Freshman Hayes sends off BVA seniors with big game

By LIAM BELAN
lbelan@yourmvi.com

On a beautiful Wednesday night at the DiVirgilio Sports Complex, Belle Vernon celebrated senior night and did themselves a favor for their playoff seeding by thumping Uniontown 13-2 in five innings.

The Leopards (13-4, 8-4) celebrated the careers of seniors Talia Ross, Gracie Sokol, Cassidy Triggiani, Paula Vukelja and Ava Zubovic with a ceremony before the action and with their play over the shortened contest, putting up seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to end it early.

“I’m happy for the seniors,” Belle Vernon coach Tom Rodriguez said. “Ava and Talia haven’t gotten to play, but Gracie has been pounding the ball this year. I got Cassidy and Paula in today and they deserve it. They’ve stuck around for four years, and I appreciate all of them.”

Maddie Grisnik earned the win on the mound, settling down after allowing hits to Uniontown’s (8-4, 8-3) first three batters to give up just two more over five innings. She struck out seven and walked none.

Offensively, Mailey Hayes went 4 for 4 with an inside-the-park home run that made the score 13-2 to end it. Gracie Sokol also managed an inside-the-park home run and a triple as she totaled three RBIs to lead BVA. Katie Sokol and Sydney Stark chipped in with two more RBIs while Zubovic also helped to plate a run.

The Red Raiders struggled defensively, committing seven errors, including four straight in the bottom of the fifth. Emily Noah was charged with the loss after surrendering 11 hits and 13 runs, with just six earned, in 4 1/3 innings. Noah managed two bunt singles as the leadoff hitter while Gracie Rodeheaver and Ava Livingood doubled and tripled, respectively, to bring in a run.

“We were hitting the ball hard,” Rodriguez said. “Last time we played them we were hitting the ball right at them, but this time we were finding the gaps, so that made a big difference. Of course, they had some errors that made things tough for them.

“This win was important because they only have three losses in the section. They still have to play Elizabeth Forward, so they could have four, but it was important that we beat them by a lot this time because it’ll help us in the playoff seeding. That could make us a five, six, seven, or eight instead of a nine, 10, 11, or 12.”

After the senior festivities, it was Uniontown that briefly ruined the mood by getting after Grisnik early.

Noah bunted on base to open things up before Rodeheaver doubled and Livingood launched a triple to make it 2-0 after three at-bats.

Grisnik settled in and got three outs after that, with Hayes making a smart play on a ground ball to prevent another run from scoring. She got the second out at home rather than first as Nellie Budinsky reached first on a fielder’s choice.

Hayes also got the Leopards started offensively with a leadoff double. Gracie Sokol followed that up with a double before an error allowed her to reach third and Hayes to score.

With two outs, Zubovic singled to bring Gracie Sokol home and make it 2-2.

Belle Vernon scored four more runs in the second frame to suddenly push out to a 6-2 advantage.

Bella Williams reached first on an error before the Red Raiders managed two outs. But with the top of the lineup back to the plate, Hayes singled and Katie Sokol hit a ball to left field that resulted in another error to bring Williams and Hayes home.

After that, Katie Sokol touched home plate as Gracie Sokol hit her home run to bring the score to 6-2.

In the third and fourth innings, Hayes and Noah were the only batters to manage hits as neither team added to the score.

But in the fifth, Belle Vernon used several Uniontown errors to end the contest. Lauren VanDivner, Mia Zubovic, Grisnik, Williams, Stark, Taylor Beech and Hayes scored runs in the bottom of the fifth as the latter two crossed home plate on Hayes’ home run.

Moving forward, the Leopards are looking forward to a game at Class 5A Thomas Jefferson today as a nice test prior to the postseason. BVA will conclude its regular season on Monday against Southmoreland.

“We have two tough exhibitions, so I’m looking forward to them,” Rodriguez said.