TWO SCOOPS: Moniteau Travels to Kane and Rolls to 13-0 Win in District 9 Class 2A Softball Playoff Opener – exploreClarion

KANE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — On the journey home from a rousing 13-0 win in the opening round of the District 9 Class 2A playoffs, the Moniteau softball team stopped for ice cream.

They deserved an extra scoop.

The Warriors jumped on Kane early for six runs in the first, Alex Stewart mashed her first career home run, and a pair of freshman pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout.

“I’m very proud,” said Moniteau coach Bob Rottman.

Moniteau came into the postseason with a record that didn’t look all that pretty at 6-11. Appearances can be deceiving.

Several of those losses came against talented non-conference foes. It helped ready the Warriors for the rigors of playoff time.

“We saw a lot of good non-conference teams and I think it helped us out a lot,” said Moniteau coach Bob Rottman. “We’ve seen some really good pitching. We’ve seen some really good hitters, and it had taught our young pitchers how to actually pitch instead of just throwing the ball across the plate. You have to find corners. If you made a mistake against some of the teams we played, they made us pay. It helped them really zero on on their location.”

Both Moniteau freshman pitchers, Graysen Rottman and Lexi McGhee learned from those lumps.

Things were certainly smooth against Kane.

Graysen Rottman went four shutout innings, giving up just two hits and striking out three. McGhee worked the fifth, giving up on hit and striking out one.

“Graysen pitched really well,” Coach Rottman said. “She located very well. She was moving the ball around, up down, side to side, and had some good spin today. Then Lexi came in and closed it out.”

Graysen Rottman got plenty of help early as Moniteau took advantage of two big Kane errors to score all six runs with two outs to take a six-run lead before the Wolves had even taken a swing at the plate.

As she has all season, senior leadoff hitter Ashley Huffman got things going with a double.

After a sacrifice bunt and a line out, Emily Staab doubled in Huffman for a 1-0 lead. A pair of errors led to three more runs and then Rottman drove in two more with a single.

The fast start allowed the Warriors to settle in quickly.

“I’m very proud. Playoff games are always nerve racking,” Coach Rottman said. “We started off with a big half-inning and I think that took a lot of pressure off.”

Moniteau (7-11) never let up off the gas.

The Warriors added two more in the top of the third, scored three times in the top of the fourth to go up 11-0 and tacked on two more in the top of the fifth.

Moniteau had 11 hits, including five for extra bases.

In addition to Stewart’s homer and the doubles from Huffman and Emily Staab, Mariska Shunk and Lily Staab also had doubles.

Shunk went 2 for 3 and knocked in a pair. Emily Staab and McGhee also had multiple hits.

“We have more power in our lineup than what was shown this year,” Coach Rottman said. “Our problem this year, which didn’t help our record, was we have good hitters, but we never had them all hitting well at the same time. I knew if we could get them all hitting at the same time, we were capable of scoring a lot of runs.”

That finally came on Monday against fourth-seeded Kane.

Leah Tigani got the loss for the Wolves. She went all five innings, giving up 13 runs (seven earned) on 11 hits. She walked three and didn’t strike out a batter.

She also singled for Kane (10-8), which had only three hits.

The Warriors will now face No. 1 seed Cranberry in the semifinals at Clarion-Limestone on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Moniteau is very familiar with the Berries. The two teams played last year in the Class 2A semifinals with Cranberry winning. They also squared off in late April with the Berries winning, 6-2.

“If we play our best ball, we can win,” Coach Rottman said. “We’re not worried about seedings or our record.”