Western Beaver softball falls to top-seeded Armstrong in first-round matchup

WEXFORD — Even though Western Beaver came out on the losing end Monday evening in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, falling to Armstrong 9-5, they still had plenty to be proud of as the Golden Beavers went punch-for-punch with the top-seeded Riverhawks at North Allegheny High School.

“The year didn’t go exactly as we wanted it to because we gave up a few cheap ones early on in the season,” Western Beaver head coach Kris Colatriano “If we didn’t do that, we might have been put in a better position and it's always tough going up against an established team like Armstrong. They have great hitters throughout the order and we did a good job matching that capitalizing on chances.

"We didn’t capitalize on everything, but I thought we did a very good job and almost knocked somebody off.”

While many teams might just roll over when facing a top-seeded perennial power in the playoffs, that wasn’t the case for Western Beaver on Monday as it stuck with Armstrong throughout the majority of the game, giving the Riverhawks all they could handle.

Every time that Armstrong looked as if it was going to pull ahead, the Golden Beavers always seemed to have an answer, regaining control of the lead two times in the early stages of the contest.

Western Beaver made the offensive adjustments that it needed early on in the game to compete with the Riverhawks, but it just wasn’t enough to keep the game within striking distance.

“They [Armstrong] are really smart with what they do,” Colatriano said. “First they started to throw the ball outside and we made the adjustments and then they brought the ball back inside. It took us about an inning to make those adjustments and even though we capitalized on a few chances we just weren’t able to keep the game where we needed it to be.”

Abbie Tomkowski played a key role in the Western Beaver fight early in the contest as she leapfrogged her team into the lead in the top of the second inning after hitting an opposite-field two-run home run to give the Golden Beavers a one-run advantage.

Even after Armstrong retook the lead after a monstrous two-run home run by shortstop Emma Paul, Western Beaver continued to show its fight in the top half of the third, striking for two more runs, capitalizing on a couple of miscues in the field from Armstrong.

Shay Shall scored all the way from second base after Lily Gunther could not hold onto the ball in center field.

Following the error by Gunther, the Golden Beavers struck again as Bella Colatriano scored on a squeeze attempt by Izzy Lefebvre, who popped up a bunt to the right side of the infield, which was then misplayed by second baseman Jordyn Klingensmith.

Outside of the home run by Tomkowski in the second inning, center fielder Shay Shall was the offensive spark that paved the way for Western Beaver throughout Monday’s first-round matchup.

Shall led the charge for the Golden Beavers, reaching base three times including two doubles, scoring one run and driving in one run in the process.

With another strong performance from the lead-off center fielder, Colatriano believes that Shall is one of the most complete hitters that he has ever seen.

“She [Shall] is one of the most complete hitters that I have ever coached and is a very tough out. Everybody in our classification knows that she sees more outside pitches than anyone else and she still manages to do what she does. She had a terrific day and I wish we could have done more for the seniors to keep them going but she is a great hitter.”

With the loss, it will mark the end of the road for Western Beaver who will finish the season 6-7 overall with the first round exit.

As for the Riverhawks, it will now await the winner of Connellsville and Plum in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Western Beaver softball falls to top-seeded Armstrong in first-round matchup