WAYNESBORO – The Waynesboro Area Senior High School varsity softball team has pretty much had Boiling Springs’ number through the years – many times with double-digit victories.
But on Tuesday, a day after being no-hit by Chambersburg in an 11-0 loss, the Maidens came out staggering. They fell behind 3-2 but somehow, despite an uncharacteristic lack of offense, rallied to take a 6-5 lead thanks to a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Alexis Thompson.
Then the wheels fell off. Boiling Springs responded with three runs in the top of the seventh inning and kept the Maidens in check in the bottom of the inning to win 8-6 in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division game.
The loss comes after Waynesboro rolled up 22 runs in a 22-1 win in the season opener and a 12-2 win in the next game.
“We should have had two or three that inning, but, you know, we’re just not hitting at all,” said Waynesboro head coach Troy Witte. “We haven’t hit the ball in two games. This isn’t the team I’m used to seeing. But we have to find a way to get out of this rut we’re in right now.
“We didn’t have a key hit today. We’re just not hitting our pitch. We’re hitting their pitch. We’re anxious in the box and we’re jumping at anything.”
Waynesboro (2-2) trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning. Riley Shetler led off with a single, and Emma Bradley followed with a walk. Following a pop out, Zoey Singrey hit a sacrifice fly to score Shetler. Bradley scored on a passed ball to give the Maidens a 2-1 lead.
Thompson was the starting pitcher, and the first inning was forgettable. It could have been much worse, as the Bubblers left the bases loaded. Thompson struggled again in the second stanza, as Boiling Springs scored two runs to go up 3-2. A solo home run in the third made it 4-2.
Waynesboro responded with three runs of its own in the home third to lead 5-4. Shetler led off with a base hit, and Bradley reached on an infield single. Abby McElroy drilled a run-scoring single to plate Shetler. After an out, Lydia Shank belted a two-run home run over the fence in center field.
The Bubblers knotted the game at 5-5 in the top of the fourth, only to watch as Waynesboro took the lead in the sixth frame.
“The pitching was good and defense was good,” Witte said. “They hit the ball in key situations, and we did not. We’re going to have peaks and valleys. Right now we’re in a valley; we have to get back to the peak.”
Shank got on base in three of her four at-bats. Breanna McIlquham singled twice, while Shetler had two hits.
Alex Monk had three putouts in centerfield for the Maidens.
Waynesboro will try to right the ship on Thursday when the Maidens travel to Newville to face Big Spring in a divisional game.
