Kosinski pitches Laurencee Manning to 5-1 win over Wilson Hall in Game 1 o AAAA softball series
Lady 'Cats can win second straight title with victory at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
By Dennis Brunson
Hssr.com Associate Editor
Sumter – The Laurence Manning Academy softball team hasn’t had the 1-2 punch of right-hander Laini Kosinski and left-hander Kayleigh Parmenter-Avins coming down the homestretch of the regular season and in the postseason. A season-ending shoulder injury to Parmenter-Avins took away that option. However, having Kosinski taking on the pitching duties on her own has been a good option for defending state champion LMA as well.
The senior carried her stellar 3-game performance in the SCISA AAAA state tournament on Friday and Saturday into the opening game of the best-of-3 state championship series against Wilson Hall on Monday at Patriot Park SportPlex. Kosinski scattered four hits and allowed just one run and her teammates played strong defense behind her at the Lady ‘Cats beat WH 5-1 in front of a huge crowd.
The victory leaves Laurence Manning one win away from defending its state title. LMA, which improved to 23-3 on the season, will get a chance to do that on Tuesday when it plays host to the 17-13 Lady Barons at Julie Skolar Field beginning at 6 p.m.
In the state tournament, Kosinski worked 13 inningss, allowing 13 hits and four runs, just two of them earned. More impressively, Kosinski didn’t walk a batter while striking out 20. She only had two strikeouts and did walk a batter against Wilson Hall, but LMA head coach Buddy Truett has nothing but praise for the way Kosinski is toting the load in the circle.
“Laini did a jam-up job,” said Truett, who is in his third year as Laurence Manning head coach. “She’s been lights out since Kay got hurt. We tell her she doesn’t have to strike them out. Be you. Let your defense work with you, and that’s a good thing.”
The Lady ‘Cats committed just one error behind Kosinski. Wilson Hall head coach Teresa Alexander commended LMA for its defensive performance.
“We hit the ball hard right at some people so many times,” said Alexander, who is in her 10th state championship series in 18 seasons as WH head coach. “Gosh, that’s frustrating, but hopefully that’s a confidence boost to say, ‘Hey, we put the ball in play. We had hard outs.’ Credit to their defense though. When we did put the ball in play, their defense was making those plays and supporting their pitcher.”
The Lady ‘Cats scored single runs in the each of the first three innings to open a 3-0 lead. Laurence Manning’s Marlee Black started the game with a double against Wilson Hall starting pitcher Lily Grace Przybyla. Black stole third and scored on a groundout by Ashley Rae Hodge.
LMA got a quick run in the second when Maggie Welch led off with a home run, her first of the season. Lyza Prickelmyer doubled with one out in the third, and Kosinski helped her cause with a 2-out single to make it 3-0.
“Anytime you can get a little cushion, it’s easier on the pitcher,” Truett said.
While her team wasn’t charged with any errors until the final inning, Alexander felt Wilson Hall was tentative defensively early in the game, and it helped LMA plate a couple of runs.
I thought we made a couple of little mistakes that we had not been making in our last little surge,” she said. “I thought we were going after some balls with hesitation tonight.
“I think it’s because we are on a big stage right now., and you tend to go back to what makes you feel comfortable when you’re on a big stage and revert back to some of your old habits. Tonight we just didn’t go after some balls like a team should that’s playing for a state championship. Maybe there were no quote errors earlier in the game, but I think we had a chance to make a play on some balls, we weren’t able to make a play on at all.”
WH broke through for its only run in the bottom of the third. Abby Bradley singled with one out and Mary Paisley Geddings reached on an infield single. Bradley eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Caroline Moorman to make it 3-1.
The Lady ‘Cats picked up a pair of unearned runs in the seventh to cushion the lead thanks to a pair of Lady Baron errors. Black started the inning with a single and reached third when Prickelmyer reached on an error. Black scored on a sacrifice fly by Hodge to make it 4-1.
A 2-out error kept the inning alive, and Prickelmyer scored on a single by Welch.
Welch had a big game, going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and one run scored. Black and Kosinski both had two hits with Black scoring twice and Kosinski driving in a run.
Carol Ann Briggs added a double while Hodge had a hit and two RBI, and Prickelmyer had a hit and two runs.
Getting hits for the Lady Barons along with Bradley and Geddings were Marsha Kate Skey and Przybyla.
Przybyla worked into the seventh inning, going 6 2/3 innings. She allowed nine hits while striking out six and walking one. Only three of the five runs she allowed were earned.
“That’s quite a feat because that’s not a lineup that strikes out a lot,” Alexander said. “We got some very good pitching tonight.”
Alexander reminded her team after the game that there is a Game 2 on Tuesday, and hopefully for the Lady Barons, a Game 3 as well.
“The message is this is a series,” said Alexander, who pointed out that in Wilson Hall’s previous times playing for a state title under her guidance, five went to a Game 3 “It’s not done, we’re OK. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
For Laurence Manning, the stage is now set for winning a state title at home for the second consecutive year.
“That’s what they wanted,” Truett said. “They wanted to start over here (in Sumter) and win it at home. Different seniors, same thing. They feel more comfortable like anyone would at their home field.”
