The Laurel Highlands softball team played a WPIAL playoff game Monday afternoon for the first time since 2013.
The playoff-victory drought had gone back even further.
That streak — the Mustangs hadn’t won in the postseason since 1999 — came to a resounding end at Norwin.
Laurel Highlands, the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A tournament, scored nine runs in the first inning, added single tallies in the second, third, and fourth and got a no-hitter from sophomore Payton Senge in a 12-0, five-inning victory over 11th-seeded Freeport.
“When you score nine runs in the first inning, it’s going to settle a team down a lot,” Mustangs coach Patrick Livingston said. “But the girls also were calm coming into it. They were calm on the bus ride down. Before warm-ups, they were talking about how much they wanted this game and they took it in that first inning.”
Laurel Highlands, the runner-up to No. 1 seed Elizabeth Forward in Section 2, improved to 11-5 and will face No. 3 Blackhawk (10-4) on Thursday in a quarterfinal at a site and time to be determined.
“We know that to be the best, you have to beat the best,” Livingston said. “We’re going to keep rolling forward with Blackhawk, the three seed. Hopefully, we come out and play like we did today.”
Freeport, which tied for fourth in Section 1 at 5-7, saw its season end at 8-11.
Despite the loss, coach Ron DeJidas said he was proud of the girls for how they played late in the season and what they did to put themselves in the playoffs.
“I know if we had another game to play, they would bounce right back,” DeJidas said. “They are a resilient group, and it will serve them well throughout everything they do. This final score was not indicative of what kind of team they are. We just had a few things early in the game that didn’t go our way.”
All 12 Laurel Highlands runs were scored with two outs.
Freeport starter Ali Smith got the first two Laurel Highlands batters in the first with a grounder to second and a popout to second.
But a single from Senge started the barrage.
Ten Mustangs batters came to the plate with two outs. A parlay of six hits and five Freeport errors later, Laurel Highlands led 9-0.
Senge’s second single of the inning drove in the eighth and ninth runs. Aubrey Speelman also singled home a pair of runs.
“We got the first two outs quick, and I thought it was going to be a fast inning for us,” DeJidas said.
“They got a couple hits that just found spots, and it just snowballed from there. I’ve seen innings like that before. I just wish we were on the other side of it. Sometimes that happens, and you have to get through it. The girls kept playing and kept battling, and that says a lot about their character.”
Liv McClelland reached on an error with two outs in the bottom of the second and scored on an error on a fly ball to right off the bat of Speelman.
Emme Cavaliere delivered an RBI double in the third. Chloe Komacko walked to lead off the fourth against Yellowjackets reliever Mady Bell and scored on a double from Gianna Miller.
While Laurel Highlands put a dozen on the board in its four innings at the plate, Senge was dealing from the circle.
She struck out the first five Freeport batters she faced and fanned 11 in all.
Senge retired the first 12 until Yellowjackets senior first baseman Lauren Clark drew a walk to lead off the fifth.
Clark stole second, and sister Leah Clark drew a two-out walk to put two runners on.
However, Senge struck out left fielder Jayden Rezak to end the game and Freeport’s season.
“I felt amazing out there,” Senge said of her five-inning gem.
“I was determined to get out there and shut it down completely from the start, and my teammates really had my back with all their bats and all the hits they got. The win was what was definitely on my mind. A perfect game would’ve been amazing, but a no-hitter is still great. The walks didn’t mess with me much. I just knew I had to lock back in and get that final out.”
Senge threw 74 pitches with 46 for strikes.
“A no-hitter is still a team win, and that’s what she wanted,” Livingston said.