Juniata Rally Falls Short at Dickinson

CARLISLE, Pa.- Trailing 6-0 in the second game of a doubleheader, the Juniata softball team had two two-out rallies to tie their game with Dickinson. The Red Devils had a rally of their own as they scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Eagles 9-8 on Tuesday night at Dickinson Park.

Dickinson jumped on JC early with a four-run first inning. The lead grew in the third with two runs coming home.

Juniata would start to chip away at its deficit in the fifth inning. Alyssa Fasolo (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area HS) led off with a single followed by Alicia Regnault (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan). Brooke Walls (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) walked to load the bases. Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) got on base by an error from the Red Devil second baseman and two runs were able to score to cut the Dickinson lead to 6-2.

The Eagles got out of a jam in the sixth. Runners were on second and third with no outs but Fasolo was able to get Dickinson's Jessica Epstein to lineout into a double play. After allowing a walk, Fasolo got Nicole Torlincasi to fly out to right field to end the inning.

Juniata had two outs in the top of the sixth when Walls reached on an error by the second baseman. Dennison came up and smashed a double to right center to bring three runs home and the Eagles were within one run of tying up the game. They would tie it as Dennison scored on an error by the centerfielder that allowed Chrisi Lerchen (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) to get on base.

Dickinson went up 7-6 on a fielding error by Kerigan Ammerman (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) that allowed a run to come home. Another run came across and the Eagles found themselves behind 8-6 going into the seventh.

In the JC seventh, Holly Bettinger singled to lead off and was replaced by pinch runner Amy Chen (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Acad.). Lindsey Kosicki (Patton, Pa./Cambria Heights) and Abby Ebright (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) both popped up and the Eagles were down to their last out. Jennifer Carthew (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge) came on to pinch hit for Maddie Garrick (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) and walked. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. After fouling off several pitches, Regnault singled to left field to score both runners and the Eagles once again tied the game up.

Carthew came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. After allowing a single, she got Torlincasi to hit into a fielder's choice and Michelle Orden to ground out to third base. With Torlincasi standing at second, Nicole Piet singled to score Torlincasi and the Red Devils walked away with the victory.

Starting pitcher Sarah Sotelo (Fairfax, Va./Paul Vi Catholic HS) went 2.2 innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on four hits and walked six batters. She also had one strikeout. Fasolo came on in relief and allowed two hits and two walks in 2.1 innings. Garrick relieved her and surrendered two unearned runs on one hit and allowed two walks. Carthew was tagged with the loss with an earned run on two hits.

Dennison finished 1-for-4 with a double, one run scored, and three runs batted in. Bettinger was 2-for-4 in the game as was Ebright and Regnault.

In the opener, Juniata went ahead 4-0 after two innings. Dickinson struck back with a six-run second inning on its way to a 7-4 win.

The Eagles chased starting pitcher Killian Kueny from the circle with one-out singles from Carthew and Ebright in the first inning that scored three runs. In the second, Dennison hit her team-leading fourth homerun of the season with a shot to centerfield.

Juniata was held in check for the remainder of the game as it was limited to two hits. In the seventh, the Eagles had runners on first and second with one out but were unable to come through with any runs as the Red Devils would take the win.

Carthew started and exited after recording two outs in the second inning.  She was relieved by Lerchen who allowed just one run on five hits, walked one, and struck out two batters.

Ammerman had a team-high three hits and scored one run. Carthew was 1-for-4 with two runs batted in.

The Eagles travel to Scranton on Saturday for a Landmark doubleheader against the Royals. The first game begins at 1:00 p.m. with the second game starting around 3:00 p.m.