Lady Hornets rally to beat Towanda, 8-6

By: Ed Weaver  /  May 3, 2017

The Wellsboro Varsity Softball team scored two runs in the sixth inning to break a 6-6 tie and beat Towanda 8-6 on Tuesday, May 2.

The win was the Lady Hornets' ninth in a row, and also qualified them for the District IV playoffs.

"Tonight presented conditions for a possible loss of focus resulting in one slipping away. The weather was colder, it was very windy, spitting rain and we scored big in our last outing," said head coach Ron Brought. "Good teams would let these factors get the best of them and take one on the chin. Great teams win these types of games, they find ways to win, they keep their composure, even when down by several runs, and get back to playing winning softball when it mattered. We started out as we have been all season by getting on the board early."

The Lady Hornets took an early lead as junior Sydney Tremper had a base hit then scored on an RBI by freshman Cathryn Brought to make it 1-0.

Then the Wellsboro bats went cold.

Towanda capitalized on Wellsboro's lack of hitting and scored five runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 5-1 lead. The Lady Hornets managed to get a run back in the bottom of the fourth as junior Kailee Clymer singled and eventually scored to make it 5-2.

Wellsboro's offense exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead 6-5. Junior Alyssa Yungwirth singled to lead off the inning, but Tremper grounded into a fielder's choice. A double by Brought scored Tremper to make it 5-3, and Brought would score to cut Towanda's lead to 5-4. After back-to-back singles by junior Brianne Keane and sophomore Hailey Neal, Clymer doubled to score both, giving the Lady Hornets a 6-5 lead.

The Lady Knights tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth after a leadoff double, but the Lady Hornets rallied with two runs in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Ryann Adams and Tremper both scored.

"Even after giving up a big five run inning to Towanda in the top of the 3rd, the girls never lost confidence in each other and kept working," continued Brought. "Despite several close calls, our pitcher getting squeezed, and overly aggressive base running our girls plated runs in 4 of the 6 innings.  Most impressive was when our girls needed to take care of business they scored 4 runs to take the lead in the bottom of the 5th. Towanda was able to get the tying runs to 2nd and 3rd with one out in the top of the 7th but our ace on the mound locked things up by striking out the last two batters to get the 'W;. I was very impressed with their tenacity, the kind needed to be able to compete with the best.  It was also another night where our defense didn't commit an error and none of our hitters struck out."

Adams and Tremper were both 2-for-4 at the play, Brought and Clymer were both 2-for-3, and Yungwirth, Neal, and Keane added hits. Yungwirth went the distance on the mound for Wellsboro for her eighth win of the season Yungwirth allowed 6 runs on 8 hits and struck out 10 batters, surpassing 300 career strikeouts.

The win improves the Lady Hornets' record to 10-1 (9-1 NTL Large School Division). The team is on the road at Athens this afternoon.