The pressure of trying to close out what would be Hampton’s first-ever WPIAL championship win didn’t worry Talbots’ sophomore pitcher Marissa Snyder.
But when she suddenly couldn’t feel her pitching hand just after firing a pitch in the final inning of a one-run game Thursday, heavy concern quickly swept in.
“I was worried because I didn’t know what was happening,” Snyder said.
Neither did Hampton coach Katie Hedderman, who considered removing Snyder from the game after meeting with Snyder on the mound with a runner at first and no outs.
“She started to panic a little bit because she couldn’t feel her hand,” Hedderman said. “The trainer worked it out and then she had some more movement. She wanted to stay in. I wanted her to take it. She deserved to take the rest of the game. We trusted her.”
Snyder was trusted, remained in the game, and then delivered Hampton that first title.
Snyder’s two-run double keyed a four-run sixth inning before working around a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to help No. 2 Hampton rally for a 4-3 win against No. 5 Blackhawk in the WPIAL Class 4A championship at North Allegheny.
“I’m so proud of them,” said Hedderman, who is in her second season. “From the beggining of the year, we knew this group had something special. We were just waiting for everybody else to see it, so I’m glad they got to see it on the biggest stage in Western Pennsylvania.”
Like Hampton (17-4), Blackhawk (14-6) was also seeking its first WPIAL title. And after losses of 9-5 and 2-1 to Hampton in the regular season, it was the Cougars who appeared to be headed toward making history as they held a 3-0 sixth-inning lead. Mia Yenges was the hitting star for Blackhawk, producing a run-scoring double in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth.
“If we score first, we’ve got a shot,” Blackhawk coach Jim Riggio said. “We scratch that run in the fourth and we get two in the fifth, and we’re cruising along 3-0. But they’re a quality opponent. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t good. And you knew they weren’t going to lay down for us.”
Instead of laying down, Hampton, which lost to Elizabeth Forward in its first championship appearance a season ago, jumped in front. Hampton had just one hit against Blackhawk pitcher Kylie Prisuta over the first five innings, but the Talbots’ offense finally got going in the sixth. After 8 and 9 hitters Katelyn Dubee and Cara Ibinson opened the inning by drawing walks, Snyder drilled a two-run double and Alena Zottola followed with an RBI double of her own to knot the score at 3.
“I just told them to play their game,” Hedderman said. “They have a really good eye and they weren’t trusting that.”
After Zottola moved to third on a groundout, Teresa Fritsch hit a sacrifice fly deep to right to give Hampton its first lead of the game.
“I just told myself just going into that at-bat that I just have to make contact with the ball. It’s just like batting practice. No extra pressure. That helped calm myself down,” Fritsch said.
The drama of the bottom of the sixth had nothing on a suspense-filled top of the seventh. Lila Grimm reached on an error to begin the inning, which brought up Keira Rodu, who reached base in her first three at-bats. During that at-bat is when Snyder dealt with the dilemma of her numb right hand, which she now believes was a hand cramp.
“We think it just cramped up,” she said. “My thumb got stuck and I couldn’t move it.”
But it was Blackhawk which was unable to move the tying run across despite putting two more runners on base. Snyder got Rodu to pop out and struck out Eva Parris before Addy Ramer singled and Yenges walked. That brought up Prisuta, who lined a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line that appeared to just barely go foul.
“I think it was fair. I’ll say that,” Riggio said.
Four pitches later, Snyder got Prisuta to strike out swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the game, sending Hampton into a championship celebration.
“I just had to trust all the work I put in and this whole team has put in, and just trust my pitches and know that if it gets hit I have the defense behind me that will back me up,” Snyder said.
It was the 10th strikeout of the game for Snyder, who gave up seven hits and walked three. Prisuta allowed three hits, walked two and struck out five in six innings.
Afterward, Snyder’s coach talked about the grit of her sophomore hurler who fought through quite a bit of adversity to propel Hampton to its first title.
“We talk about grit a lot and what it means, and that right there is grit,” Hedderman said. “That’s grit on the field. I didn’t doubt it for one second. This is her life, her everything.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.