LAVALE — Allegany and Fort Hill each threw punches in the middle innings Friday, but the Campers dealt the finishing blow.
Fort Hill carried momentum from its defense to manufacture the tying run in the fourth inning, making it 1-1. However, the Campers responded and the wheels came off.
Allegany pushed across five runs in the bottom half, all unearned and with two outs, and it tacked on two more in the fifth and three in the sixth — the final a walk-off single by Mykah Baker to lift the second-ranked Campers to an 11-1 victory over No. 4 Fort Hill in six innings at Lions Field.
“I give credit to Fort Hill, they fought,” Allegany head coach Dave Winner said. “We just stayed steady and continued to work. That’s what I expect from our team. ... We don’t panic when it’s 1-1 or 1-0. We always think we’re going to have innings like we did.
“Beating a city team and a WestMAC (Western Maryland Athletic Conference) team is always huge for us.”
Allegany improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the WestMAC, pushing its conference winning streak to 33 games.
Fort Hill, which has lost five straight, fell to 2-5 (2-1 WestMAC).
The game began to turn after Fort Hill right-hander MaeLeigh Plummer (James Madison track and field signee) got the first two outs of the fourth inning in a 1-1 game.
Allegany drew three straight walks to load the bases, and Plummer was relieved.
An error on a Maylee Blank grounder to third allowed two runs to score, another error on an Avery Miller bouncing ball plated one more, Des Hilton followed with an RBI bunt single and Miller (Penn State track signee) came around to score on a wild pitch.
Fort Hill could’ve gotten out of the inning unscathed, but five unearned runs made it 6-1 Allegany.
“The biggest thing is, we’ve got to find a way to play a complete seven-inning game,” Fort Hill head coach Jason McMahan said. “We played great until the bottom of the fourth. We’ve got to finish.
“We have to find a way that, if one thing happens, we’ve got to find a way to not let it snowball. Understand that, hey, we’re only as good as our next play after that. Let it go, reset, and let’s go make the last out.”
Jordyn Sneathen shined for Allegany at the plate and in the circle. Offensively, the junior had two hits and two RBIs.
The right-hander also notched a complete-game victory, allowing one run on four hits in six innings, striking out nine and walking five.
“She had a lot of three-ball counts, but I give her a longer leash because she works out of them,” Winner said of Sneathen. “She gets stronger as the game goes. She’s athletic and can field well.”
Sneathen was backed up by her defense, which committed one error in the third that didn’t lead to a run.
Baker, the Campers’ right-fielder, made two diving catches in right field and drove in two runs at the plate.
Miller scored three times, Tyiss Jessie tripled and Alyson White had a pinch-hit RBI single.
Plummer took the loss for Fort Hill, though just one of her four runs were earned and she only gave up one hit in 3 2/3 frames.
Haley Metz singled in Fort Hill’s lone run in the fourth inning.
Fort Hill’s score was fueled by its defense. The Sentinels caught the speedy Miller in a rundown for the first out of the third, and catcher Paetyn Davis threw out a would-be base-stealer for the final out of the frame.
Allegany quickly erased that momentum, however, as the Campers scored 10 unanswered runs to end it in six innings.
Fort Hill will look to bounce back at home against Mountain Ridge (2-4, 1-1 WestMAC) on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Allegany takes on top-ranked Frankfort (7-0) on Monday at 6 p.m.
“It’s gonna make us better,” Winner said of playing Frankfort. “We want to play good teams, and if we play good, we have a chance.”
