RECAP >> Shayla Morgan had herself a day on Saturday afternoon.
The Emmaus junior center fielder drove in all three of her team’s runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Emmaus remained unbeaten in league play with a thrilling 3-2 win over previously-undefeated Whitehall. The game was carried LIVE on www.easternpasportsnetwork.com.
“This was a very good softball game and a good win for our team,” said Hornets first year head coach Rich Giering. “You had two good teams battling it out and Whitehall’s pitcher did a good job of keeping us off balance. Our girls just hung in there all day and we came away with the win.”
“Whitehall’s in our division and the one thing that we talked about with the girls is taking it one game at a time. This was big win for the program and for our young ladies.”
Emmaus, which was coming off its first loss of the season less than 24 hours earlier in a 4-1 defeat to District One power Spring-Ford, was able to rally to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning after Whitehall had taken its first lead, then walked it off in the ninth as the left-handed hitting Morgan lined a one-out, bases loaded pitch off Zephyr starter junior Kassie Aquino to left scoring the game-winning run from third base and setting off a wild celebration.
“We can do a lot of things with Shayla in the lineup,” said Giering of his team’s No.2 hitter. “Her and Daria (Krout) are 1-2 and they both run well. Those two really set the table for the middle of our lineup.”
With the win, the Hornets improved to 3-0 in the EPC and 4-1 overall. Whitehall dropped to 2-1 in the league and 3-1 overall.
Emmaus junior Danika Barthol had a strong outing in the circle to improve to 3-1. The hard-throwing righthander threw 127 pitches, striking out nine and gave up just a pair of runs while scattering seven hits.
Her counterpart, Aquino, also was solid in her 115-pitch effort in the loss as she struck out four and allowed seven hits.
Emmaus senior third baseman Sami Lilly had two hits in the win.
Whitehall was led by senior catcher Madison Lasko who went 2-for-3 at the plate.
The Hornets will be back in action next week with four games in six days – Monday at East Stroudsburg South (4 pm), Wednesday vs Freedom (4 pm), Thursday vs Northampton (4 pm) and Saturday at Hazleton (3 pm).
For the most complete coverage of Emmaus softball, follow @Emmaussports.com on twitter and like Emmaussports.com on facebook.
Wh – 000 000 200 – 2-7-2
Em – 000 010 101 – 3-7-0
Wh – Kassie Aquino and Megan Lasko; Em – Danika Barthol and Mason Roselli.