WAYNESBORO – The weather was pleasant, and the game was, too.
The Waynesboro Maidens used a five-run third inning and got plenty of big hits and some good pitching and defense during a 12-2 six-inning win against West Perry in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division varsity softball game on Wednesday.
Emma Bradley and Abby McElroy teamed up on the pitching mound to stifle West Perry’s bats, while Alex Monk smacked a solo home run in the second inning and Bradley belted a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
“They hit the ball well, pitched well, played good defense,” said Waynesboro coach Troy Witte. “It was an all-around good game for us. It’s a bounce-back game from Monday (a 7-6 loss to Greencastle-Antrim). They showed up today.
“We hit the ball real hard, better than usual. That’s the team I’m used to seeing.”
The rollercoaster that is the 2024 season for the Maidens, who celebrated Senior Day at the field on a very warm May day, trended upward. Waynesboro will have to win its next four games against Northern, Shippensburg, James Buchanan, and Carlisle to end the season with a .500 record.
The win against the Mustangs gave the Maidens a 6-10 record.
Bradley, a freshman, set down West Perry in order the first three innings. She hit a speedbump in the fourth inning as the Mustangs scored a run but left the bases loaded.
McElroy entered the game in the fifth inning and retired the side one-two-three before giving up a run in the sixth stanza.
Monk hit her solo round-tripper in the second frame.
Then, in the prolific third inning, Waynesboro sent eight batters to the plate and scored five runs and would never look back.
Zoie Singray led off with a single. Bradley followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Riley Shetler hit a sacrifice fly to plate Singray, and after an out, McElroy drove home Bradley with a double. Monk doubled to score McElroy. Z’Mariah Diggs singled to plate Monk. Diggs stole second and came around to score on a pair of throwing errors to make the score 6-0.
Bradley’s home run upped the score to 8-1, and after the Mustangs tallied a run in the top of the sixth inning, the Maidens pushed across three runs to end the game by the 10-run rule.
It was déjà vu as Singray singled and Bradley doubled to put runners at second and third. Shetler singled both runners home and scored on McElroy’s third double of the game.
