KENNEDY TWP - Canon-McMillan drew first blood - and Seneca Valley couldn't stop the bleeding.

A couple of Raider mistakes contributed to a four-run first inning for the Big Macs Tuesday evening at Fairhaven Park and paved the way for their 5-2 WPIAL Class AAAA softball quarterfinal loss.

"We beat them 2-1 over the final six innings," Seneca Valley coach George Trew said. "But the first inning killed us."

The Big Macs' Kindle Barnes drilled SV pitcher Megan Wise's first pitch to deep center field for a triple. Lauretta Wallace singled to right to give the Big Macs the lead. Following a sacrifice bunt, Alison Moskal delivered a run-scoring single.

With runners at second and third, the Raiders still had a chance to limit the damage. But catcher Tina Mangola couldn't find the ball after a wild pitch, allowing a third run to score. When Mangola threw wildly Wise, who was covering the plate, the other runner came around to score.

"You can't make mistakes like that against good teams," Trew said. "They usually come back to haunt you and that one did."

Canon-McMillan pitcher Becca Petras haunted the SV bats all night. The junior right-hander entered the game with a 0.21 earned run average, 11 shutouts and 239 strikeouts. She has 440 strikeouts over the past two years.

Seneca Valley entered the contest sporting a .345 team batting average, but managed only two hits.

Petras struck out six and got stronger as the game went on, retiring the final 10 hitters she faced. Both runs scored against her were unearned.

"She's the rock we've built this program around," Canon-McMillan coach Michele Moeller said. "Becca's been outstanding.

"We knew how well Seneca Valley hits the ball. As strong as our pitching's been, our bats were going to have to do some of the talking today. We came through with some big hits early."

Seneca Valley scored its two runs in the third inning. Julie Marlowe singled with two outs and took second base when the center fielder misplayed the ball.

Liz Dorogy's grounder to second was booted, and Marlowe scored on the play. Aly Intihar doubled over the center fielder's head to plate Dorogy, but Intihar was thrown out trying to stretch her hit into a triple.

"I thought Aly had an easy triple there," Trew said. "It took two perfect throws to get her - and they made two perfect throws."

Mangola opened the Raiders fourth by reaching base when the center fielder dropped her short fly ball. With two outs, Nicole Lollo was hit by a pitch.

Pinch-hitter Megan McCormick grounded sharply to second, but Moskal made the play to end the threat. The Raiders wouldn't get another base runner.

Courtney Grootegoed relieved Wise in the fourth and pitched three scoreless innings, striking out four.

Canon-McMillan won its sixth consecutive game and has outscored its opponents 108 to 18 this season. Its only two losses all year were 1-0 decisions to Baldwin and Peters Township.

The Big Macs are in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in the program's history. Before last year, Canon-McMillan had reached the playoffs just twice in 27 seasons. The team does not have a senior on its roster.

"We had two would-be seniors quit before the season started and we lost our lead-off hitter to a torn ACL," Moeller said. "We had to switch some positions around … A lot of our players had to do some unselfish things to make this season happen."

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Raiders. Every team that beat them this season - Shaler, North Allegheny, Riverside and Canon-McMillan - is still in the playoffs.

"We had a great year. Our girls have nothing to be ashamed about," Trew said. "We only lose two seniors, too, so the future looks bright for us."

Seneca Valley 002 000 0 - 2 2 1

Can. McMillan 401 000 0 - 5 8 3

WP:

Becca Petras (7 IP) 6 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP:

Megan Wise (3 IP) 2 strikeouts, 1 walk

Seneca Valley (15-5):

Julie Marlowe 1B, Aly Intihar 2B RBI

Canon-McMillan (17-2):

Kindle Barnes 3B, Lauretta Wallace 1B 2B RBI, Becca Petras 1B, Sam Melone 1B, Alison Moskal 2-1B 2-RBI, Amber Areford 2B