Mules Rally Top Mounts

Solanco’s softball team, according to head coach Brett Miller, has been finding different ways of winning this season. Sometimes the Golden Mules lead wire-to-wire. Sometimes they have a lead, give it away and rally to win. Sometimes they trail from the jump, then fashion a winning rally.

Thursday was an option three kind of afternoon in Quarryville as the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two leaders took the measure of Ephrata, 6-4.

The Mountaineers (5-5 league, 9-5 overall), gamely trying to stay on pace for a spot in the league playoffs, won the first four-and-a-half innings, 4-0.

But the Mules (9-1, 13-1) won the last three-and-a-half, and the game, scoring six runs across the fourth and fifth innings.

With five games left to play in the regular season, Solanco holds a two-game lead on second-place Elizabethtown (6-3, 8-7), is 3.5 games up on Lampeter-Strasburg (5-4, 5-8) and four games up on Ephrata.

Held to one hit through three innings Thursday by Mounts ace Ellie Meier, the Mules got on the board on Delaney Gote’s two-out, two-run single in the fourth.

Five straight hits to open the Solanco fifth inning flipped the scoreboard as Holly Grube (3-for-3) drove in the go-ahead run on a single to center field.

“(Meier) is one of the fastest pitchers in the league,” Grube said. “Once everyone adjusted to her speed, everyone had time to see her, and was able to get ahead on their swings and jump on her.”

“Holly is consistent, she hits the ball where it’s pitched,” Miller said. “She can drive, she hits for power if she has to and she makes the plays.”

The winning rally began as Zoey Evans singled into right field. Ava Martin tried, and failed, to get the bunt down. Twice. Then, she tripled deep into the recesses of right field, scoring Evans.

“She kind of redeemed herself from a lot of practice real fast,” Miller said with a smile. “She made good, solid contact.”

Josie Janssen shot an RBI single through shortstop. Kira Roark singled and went first-to-third on Grube’s hit. Sara DeFrancesco plated Roark with the sixth run on a groundout to cap the rally.

The beneficiary of the offensive outburst was winning pitcher Anna Sexton, who, having settled down after early trouble, worked around a pair of one-out singles by Maddie Russell and Emma Zimmerman (3-for-4) in the fifth in-ning and Russell’s two-out double in the seventh.

The Mounts struck for a pair of unearned runs in the third inning on Ali Williams’ two-run single. They doubled their advantage the next inning.

Zimmerman led off with a triple to deep right and scored on Lanie Reinhold’s hit. With one out, Kaliana Auchey tripled to deep center, scoring Reinhold. Miller called time and approached the circle to deliver an encouraging word.

“You have to ask them where they’re at,” he said. “Is it yes or no? Are you going to start throwing the pitches the way they’re meant to be pitched or not?

“We were on the cusp,” he said, aware that, while his offense had potential, the Mules could ill afford to allow any more runs. “She realized you have to throw your pitches and see what happens. Good things happened.”

After Sexton got Kaylee Walters to pop to short, Miller intentionally walked Meier.

“I was definitely not going to let Meier bat,” Miller said. “You have to figure out who’s going to beat you. She’s the one who can.”

Sexton got Addy Snyder for the third out and got a lift next inning when shortstop Ava Fedoruk went to her backhand, deep in the hole, to throw out Williams for the first out of the inning.

The play grew in significance when Russell and Zimmerman followed with hits.

All that was left was to bring home the Mules’ eighth straight victory. Sexton retired eight of the last nine, striking out Zimmerman with Russell on second to end the game.