Yough survives to beat McGuffey

By LIAM BELAN

lbelan@yourmvi.com

When McGuffey started the bottom of the seventh with two singles during Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 3A first round matchup against Yough, the Cougars (9-4) needed to make a change. 

Starting pitcher Kylee Fisher had pitched six strong innings, holding McGuffey (10-5) to just one run as her Cougars led 2-1. However, when she admitted to Yough coach Dutch Harvey that she was running out of gas during a visit at the mound, Harvey needed someone to step up and hold onto the lead. 

Enter shortstop Adoria Waldier. 

“I’m super proud of Adoria coming in there like that,” Harvey said. “She went in there cold, threw five or six pitches, and got us out of it. That’s huge. (Fisher) was a little down on herself for getting behind, but I asked them who wanted to be the dog and Adoria said, ‘I want to be the dog, give me the ball.’ It was awesome.

“(Fisher) pitched great for six innings. She got a little tired there at the end, so we brought in the heater. Adoria came in and shut the door.”

Waldier threw a wild pitch to put runners on second and third with no outs, but that was the only real mishap she had. She managed to strike out one, then made a smart decision to throw home and get the second out on a fielder’s choice at the plate. She ended the game by forcing a groundout to first. 

The Cougars scored their runs in the second and third inning as Katie Proctor pulled off an RBI double in the second and courtesy runner Erin Reisinger scored on an error in the third.

Moving forward, No. 9 Yough will take on No. 1 Avonworth at a time and site to be determined Thursday. 

“This was a great game, and we came out on top despite the pressure,” Harvey said.