Meadville loses to Hickory 11-0 in season ender
The Meadville softball team saw its season come to a close on Thursday in the District 10 Class 4A semifinal round at Allegheny College.
Meadville lost to Hickory 11-0 in five innings. The Hornets out-hit Meadville 12-5 and had two extra-base hits to Meadville's one.
"We were not underestimating Hickory by any means," Meadville head coach Renee Ashton said. "They came out very aggressive and did their job. I talked to their coach and he complimented my team. He knows how good we are and we know how good they are."
It was just not Meadville's day. The Hornets jumped on the Bulldogs with five runs in the opening inning. After three ground outs for Meadville, Hickory added three more runs in the top of the second and third innings for an 11-0 lead.
The Bulldogs got their offense going in the bottom of the third, but couldn't capitalize. With two outs, Addyson Kregel and Tegan Reichel each singled. With runners in the corners, Meadville hit a fly out to end the inning.
Meadville added a single in the fourth and one in the fifth, but couldn't string together timely hits, something the team did throughout the regular season. Meadville defeated Hickory 13-0 earlier in the season with nine runs in the first inning.
"I don't think anything changed for us. We just didn't have a day and they had a day. They know just by playing us before that it would be hard to get through us and it just went their way," Ashton said. "I still think we could play another one and it could be the complete opposite way, but that's not taking anything away from what Hickory just did. They had an outstanding day."
It was a disappointing end to the year for the Bulldogs, but Meadville had a good season. They were Region 5 co-champions with Cathedral Prep and finished the year 14-4. It was the second region title in program history and the first since 2005.
"The message is this one game doesn't define the accomplishments we've had. Getting here and just doing what we've done consistently all year, it wasn't the game we played today and it stinks," Ashton said. "But the talent these girls have, I'm so proud of them. It's not just the talent, it's the family they are and it hurts worse because these seniors have made a difference for these younger players and they've become so close."
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Hickory (11)
(AB-R-H-BI) Myers 4-2-2-0, Hallas 4-2-2-1, Miller 3-1-2-3, McClung 3-2-1-0, Schneider 3-1-2-2, Trimboli 2-0-1-2, Leunis 3-0-0-0, Hanzelka 3-0-1-1, Black 2-2-1-0. Totals 27-11-12-9.
Meadville (0)
(AB-R-H-BI) Mealy 3-0-0-0, A. Kregel 3-0-1-0, Reichel 3-0-2-0, R. Kregel 2-0-0-0, Kightlinger 2-0-1-0, Baker 2-0-0-0, Rusek 2-0-1-0, Curtiss 2-0-0-0, Revel 1-0-0-0, McGowan 1-0-0-0. Totals 21-0-5-0.
Hickory 533 00x x — 11 12 1
Meadville 000 00x x — 0 5 1
BATTING
2B: H — Miller, Trimboli; M — Kightlinger.
PITCHING
(IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB) H — Hallas 5-5-0-0-3-1; M — R. Kregel 0.1-5-5-5-0-0, Kightlinger 4.2-7-6-3-2-2.
