MORGANTOWN — The University High softball team drove in four runs on a pair of RBI doubles late in the sixth inning that broke a 5-5 tie against rival Morgantown and helped propel the Hawks to a 9-5 victory April 6, at Mylan Park.
The two foes battled through the first three innings with three lead changes that featured University senior Halei Johnson and Morgantown sophomore Brooke Pyles on the mound.
After Hawks head coach Mindy Parks put in a relief pitcher, junior Hayden Powroznik, in the fourth, the Mohigans rallied with a trio of RBI doubles to overcome a one-run deficit and take the lead, 5-3.
Down but not out, Powroznik bounced back with three shutout innings, allowing only three hits, and closed the game with MHS threatening with bases loaded.
“It was tough out there with the cold air and the wind. [Powroznik] just needed to get warmed up and settled in,” Parks said. “This was a big win for our young team. My key word for them tonight was to finish. Put forth that effort and finish. They did a great job tonight.”
Part of UHS’s four-run output was aided by some costly errors from their counterpart. The Mohigans’ coach, Lorri Lipscomb said following the loss that her team had too many missed opportunities.
“When we played John Marshall last night, we had 13 hits off their number one pitcher,” she said. “Coming in tonight, we had too many errors when they had runners in scoring position, and we couldn’t convert with bases loaded three or four times. Just didn’t execute and it ended up hurting us.”
Morgantown had six errors on the night, two of which came during University’s four-run rally, and eight hits. The Hawks finished with three errors and 10 hits.
Morgantown will return to action Tuesday, playing host to Wheeling Central Catholic. University will take a brief trip to a tournament in Frostburg, Md., today before returning home to play Wheeling Park, on Wednesday.
