NEW RIEGEL — The host Blue Jackets proved that being opportunistic can advance a team in the post-season.
New Riegel (23-3) held Mohawk to just two base hits and took advantage of a bad inning in the field to top the Lady Warriors 3-1 in a Division IV district semifinal game here Monday afternoon.
Freshman pitcher Karsyn Piper struck out nine and walked three to pick up the win as the Jackets won their 12th straight game.
Lady Warriors head coach Mindy Walton knew what her team was facing.
“We’ve kind of followed her through the season and she’s done well. As a freshman, she’s probably the best in the area right now. She kept us off balance, especially when we tried to get something going. We just couldn’t manufacture those runs tonight,” she said.
New Riegel plays Carey Thursday for the district championship. The Blue Devils downed Hopewell-Loudon 8-5 in the second game to avenge last year’s loss in the district finals.
Katie Woodland had singles in the fourth and sixth innings, but Mohawk had no other offense.
“I feel like when you get to tournament time, sometimes the luck is on your side and sometimes it’s not. We just had one of those nights,” Walton said.
“We had to hit the ball. I went back and looked at everything today and this past week. We had hits, but they were kind of strung out through the innings and we just really couldn’t manufacture any of those runs.”
The teams were scoreless through 2 and 1/2 innings.
Mohawk drew two walks in the first inning but failed to score. In the second inning Aubrey Gottfried drew a walk and stole second base. But she was stranded there.
New Riegel scored a run in the bottom of the third on a Katie Dryfuse single — one of her three hits — and an infield error.
“We’ve kind of preached with her (Aubrey) about hitting spots and being able to call different pitches if we’re hitting our spots. I just felt like tonight maybe she wasn’t as on key with that as we have before,” Walton said.
The hosts scored two more in the fourth inning. Maddie Heilman had a lead-off single and scored following a walk and another Dryfuse single to left field made it 3-0.
Mohawk is 18-5 and has two regular season games remaining against Seneca East on Tuesday and one to be scheduled against Carey that will determine the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title.
“We have an N10 championship to win this week. So hopefully we can move on from this and get that done,” Walton said.
Mohawk scored its lone run in the seventh after a New Riegel error put Gottfried on base. A Josie Granta bunt and another error allowed Gottfried to score before a fly out to second base ended the contest.
Gottfried took the loss, only her fourth in 21 decisions. She struck out nine but issued eight walks.
Blue Jackets head coach Tony Conner had a plan to put runners on base.
“We noticed in the N10 stats that she had a lot of walks this year. She’s a great pitcher, but she’s a young pitcher. Make her make mistakes and get your pitch and when we do, drive it,” he said.
“All of my players, from my seniors down to my freshmen, all had really long, good at-bats. That was the game plan. We would have liked to have had more runs, but three’s enough.”
“Karsyn has been amazing all year. She’s a hard worker and loves the big pressure situations and never folds under it … I’ve seen her have freshmen moments,” Conner said.
“Gottfried’s a good pitcher and we have good pitchers in our conference to get us ready for stuff like this. Katie did what I thought Katie would do and stepped up and made it happen.”
Mohawk loses three quality seniors in Josie Granta, Gracie Clouse, and A.J. Chevalier.
“Josie in the outfield — she comes out of nowhere like a cat. She’s everywhere in the outfield and she’s definitely going to be missed.
“A.J. on first base and Gracie my DP this year. Gracie didn’t play her freshman and sophomore years. She came last year and worked herself into the lineup and did some good things for us throughout the year,” Walton said.
“A.J. got moved around the infield lately but did an outstanding job at first base.”
Box score
Mohawk 000 000 1 1 2 2
New Riegel 001 200 X 3 4 3
WP: Karsyn Piper (9 SO, 3 W)
LP: Aubrey Gottfried (9 SO, 8 W)
HR: None.
Triples: None.
Doubles: None.
Multiple hits: (M) Katie Woodland; (NR) Katie Dryfuse 3.
Records: Mohawk 18-5; New Riegel 23-3.
Next: Mohawk at Seneca East, Tuesday; Carey at New Riegel, Thursday, Division IV district final.