Too much Tingley
STRATTANVILLE — It was just a matter of time before Moniteau's bats came alive.
Warriors' coach Bob Rottman was confident they would. Union City coach Jerry Van Zandt believed it would happen.
It never did.
Union City pitcher Abby Tingley set down the first 20 batters she faced Monday afternoon. Only Abby Rottman's single to center field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning kept the junior from pitching a perfect game.
Moniteau entered the game, a PIAA Class 2A first-round softball playoff at Clarion-Limestone High School, with a team batting average of .452, but the Warriors bowed from the tournament with a 9-0 loss to the Bears.
“I honestly thought our bats would come through,” said Coach Rottman. “We put the ball in play a lot, but she (Tingley) located the ball well. She has a good rise, curveball and change-up. On a lot of her pitches, we were either on top of it or underneath it.”
With Monday's effort, Tingley's ERA for the season fell to 0.75. She struck out three and did not walk a batter and now has 160 strikeouts this spring compared to just 12 walks.
“She was one batter away from a perfect game, so it was obviously a great performance,” Van Zandt said. “She kept their hitters off-balanced, but this was a team win. Our defense made all the plays behind her. It's been strong all season and Abby would be the first to tell you that.”
The Bears tallied just five hits off Moniteau pitcher Courtney Stewart, but benefitted from six walks and several miscues in the field. They wasted no time giving Tingley the lead.Two of the first three batters of the game drew a walk and later in the inning, Cyaira Zielinski singled in two runs and Lucy Higley tripled in another.Stewart settled down afterward, blanking the Bears in the second, third and fourth innings. But the Warriors (13-7) still faced the three-run deficit and were making weak contact against Tingley.One exception was Abby Rottman's fly ball to deep left with two outs in the fourth frame. It drove Union City's Emylee Zielinski to within feet of the fence where she caught the ball to end the inning.The Bears extended their lead, first to 6-0 in the top of the fifth and then to 9-0 in the sixth. Eliza Reynolds singled home a pair of runs in the fifth.Walks and errors spurred both opportunities.“Walks hurt us today ... and the errors,” said Coach Rottman. “It was a case of timely hits on their part and timely mistakes by us.”Union City will enter Thursday's quarterfinal round with a 21-1 record, with the only loss coming to Sharpsville in the District 10 title game.“We knew Moniteau could hit the ball and I didn't think we'd be able to shut them out,” said Van Zandt.Moniteau's season included a District 9 championship for the first time in four years. Three seniors — Courtney Stewart, Abby Rottman and Taylor Schultz — played their final game for the Warriors.“I'm very proud of all of these girls,” Coach Rottman said. “A lot of them have worked hard, not only during the high school season, but year-round. It's a good group of girls.”Union City 300 033 0 — 9 5 0Moniteau 000 000 0 — 0 1 3W: Abby Tingley 7 IP (3K, 0BB). L: Courtney Stewart 7 IP (2K, 6BB)Union City (21-1): Cathryn Reynolds 1B 2R RBI, Eliza Reynolds 1B 3R 2RBI, Sydney Gilbert 1B 2RBI, Cyaira Zielinski 1B R 2RBI, Lucy Higley 3B RBIMoniteau (13-7): Abby Rottman 1B
