Commodores rally to beat Mt. Pleasant

Frazier plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to stun the Vikings in a non-section game at Commodore Park.

For five innings of Wednesday’s windy non-section softball game between Mt. Pleasant and host Frazier, very little was happening at the plate for the home team.

But one big inning turned a potential loss into a satisfying victory as the Commodores rallied with three runs in the sixth inning and pulled out a hard-fought 3-2 win over the visiting Vikings.

“These girls are well-seasoned ball players and there is no quit in them,” Frazier coach Don Hartman said. “As long as our pitching and defense can hold teams to a run or two, I think we can come back offensively.”

Frazier pitcher Addison Hiles did exactly as Hartman had hoped. The right-hander gave up two quick runs in the first inning, but settled in and kept the Vikings (2-3) at bay the rest of the way. She finished with a four-hitter that included three strikeouts. Hiles gave up just one hit after the first inning.

“Addison I thought did a phenomenal job,” Hartman said. “Traditionally this season, we’ve had rough first innings, but she shut them down the rest of the way.”

On the other side, Mt. Pleasant’s Danica Trainer was just as impressive and much more overpowering. Trainer was the hard-luck loser after tossing a six-hitter against the Commodores (3-1) that included 12 strikeouts.

“Danica pitched good enough to win,” Mt. Pleasant coach Paul Reho said. “But we made a couple of mistakes on defense and didn’t make the plays that we should.”

The Vikings grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a nice twoout rally. Trainer started the scoring burst with a single, and she scored when Gigi Stanek singled and moved up on a Frazier fielding error. Kendra Brunson then knocked in Stanek with a single.

From there, neither team could dent the scoreboard over the course of the next four innings. Mt. Pleasant had a chance to extend its lead in the fourth, but left two runners on base. Frazier stranded a runner in scoring position in the second and fourth innings.

The first two times through the Frazier lineup, Trainer was dominant. But things changed when the Commodores faced her the third time through.

In the sixth, Hiles and Zoey Zurenski started the frame with back-to-back singles before Grace Vaughn came through with a run-scoring double to put the Commodores on the board.

Then with one out, Emme Travalena ripped her second hit of the day, a clutch two-run single that gave the Commodores the lead.

“Emme is only a freshman and it says a lot about the work she has put in,” Hartman said. “She’s going to be a good one.”

With the lead on her side, Hiles went out to close the game down in the seventh. But it wasn’t easy.

Hiles got two quick outs on popups, but then ran into a bit of trouble by walking Autumn Jurkovic-Kuzma and Carly Surma to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. However, Hiles buckled down and got a harmless pop-up on the infield to end the game and seal the win for the Commodores.

“We try to play teams like Mt. Pleasant and Southmoreland every year,” Hartman said. “They are our neighbors and they have good programs, and they know we have a good program and they want to play us. This is a nice win.”

Although his team came up short, Reho noted some positive steps for his team, particularly after a 10-0 loss to Latrobe in the Vikings’ previous game.

“We put some good bats on balls, but the wind was killer,” Reho said, noting that some hard-hit shots potentially could have gone for hits, had they not hung up in the breeze. “We had a tough game against Latrobe and I wanted to see them come back and play better, and I think we did that. But we still have some things we need to work on.”

Both teams return to section play on Friday. Frazier hosts California and Mt. Pleasant is home against Ligonier Valley.