One last clash: Grimm's bat, glove carries Lady Warriors to 4

FORT ALLEN — Elizabeth Forward sophomore Alivia Grimm shined when the lights were brightest with the key hit and an outstanding defensive play as the Lady Warriors rallied for a 4-3 victory over Belle Vernon Thursday afternoon in the PIAA Class AAAA softball semifinals at Hempfield.

Elizabeth Forward (20-1) advances to play WPIAL runner-up Montour on Monday at a site and time to be announced.

Julia Resnik opened the seventh inning with a walk and Shelby Telegdy, who belted a solo home run in the fifth inning, was intentionally walked.

"I put the winning run on base, but the girl's real good. I wasn't going to let her beat me," said Belle Vernon coach Tom Rodriguez.

Bella Gimiliano bunted the runners ahead a base. Vay hit a ground ball to third baseman Lauren Vandivner with Resnik breaking on contact. The throw to catcher Mia Zubovic was in time.

Vay broke for second and beat the throw to give the Lady Warriors runners at second and third.

Grimm's two-out, 2-2 sharp double plated Telegdy and Vay to give the Lady Warriors the lead, 4-3.

"Nine times out of 10, I do believe in myself, but I usually ground out. At that moment, I just stayed calm and do what I do best, just hit," explained Grimm. "Most of the time I (when I) hit to the left side, and when it comes off the bat, I know.

"This is it. The runs are going in."

Grimm added, "I’ve been in a slump as of right now. I felt like at that moment I needed to get the ball down, I needed to get a hit.

"We had a pitching machine at our practices. We were ready for Talia and we were ready for Olivia."

Elizabeth Forward coach Harry Rutherford felt Grimm was due.

"Alivia (was due), especially since she didn't have very good at-bats in the first two tries. She's been hitting the ball really well. We practiced, practiced, practiced. We figured Tom was going to throw Ross," said Rutherford. "We practiced the inside pitch.

"And, she was due. She came through with the big hit."

Rodriguez considered walking Grimm.

"Actually, my coaches wanted me to walk the girl that got the hit. Then, when she had two strikes, we decided to pitch to her. We wanted to throw away (on the outside). I don't care if we walked her," said Rodriguez.

Belle Vernon had one last shot in the bottom of the inning.

Alexa Daniels started with a single that skipped past the outfield for an error as she advanced to second base.

Gracie Sokol hit a soft pop towards the backstop which a diving Grimm caught just before the fence for the key first out.

"Whenever it's like that, I dive for it if it's close. Sometimes I dive and hope for the best," Grimm said of the play.

"This was Alivia's day. She makes that out. It was big play there to get that out," praised Rutherford.

Rutherford opted to intentionally walk Maren Metikosh.

"If we had to walk Metikosh, so be it. It was karma. They walked Shelby so I walked Metikosh. If he had pitched to Shelby, I probably would’ve pitched to her," said Rutherford.

Telegdy induced Mia Zubovic to pop out to second base and center fielder Hannah Evans squeezed Lauren Vandivner's fly ball to clinch the victory.

"I get a runner on second base and my three best hitters up. One popped out to second base and another lined out," said Rodriguez, adding, "Have my top three up, can't ask for anything else. Just one single. With Lexi on first, she would’ve scored on any hit.

"We had a chance. That's the way this game goes."

Telegdy drove in the first run of the game when she singled home Resnik in the top of the third inning. Courtesy runner Madison Patterson attempted to take third on Vay's fly ball to right field, but Sydney Callaway's throw to Vandivner was in time for a double play.

Grimm flied out to Metikosh to end the inning.

Belle Vernon (19-5) scored all three runs in the bottom of the fifth, benefitting from a mental mistake.

Olivia Kolowitz walked to start the inning. Katie Sokol attempted to bunt her over and her attempt flew deep over the drawn-in fielders, settling along the third base line. The ball appeared to have enough spin to roll foul, but Telegdy made a play on the ball short of third base with no play on either runner.

Daniels walked to load the bases. Gracie Sokol's sacrifice fly brought home the first run.

Metikosh grounded out to first base, moving both runners up a base. Mia Zubovic then came through for the then go-ahead run with a single.

Telegdy recovered from the lopsided loss she and her teammates suffered to the Lady Leopards in the WPIAL semifinals. She allowed six hits, walked five (one intentional), and struck out three.

"For her to fight through that situation against that team, I give her a lot of credit. Last time, she got shellacked. That has to be on her mind as a pitcher. The scored 10 runs on her, nine on home runs," said Rutherford.

Grimm expected the teams would battle to the final out.

"Very, very tight. Belle Vernon has been one our our biggest competitors this season. We knew this game was going to be tight, so we had to come in with a clean slate and just play," said Grimm.

Rutherford admitted he, along with most of the fans, expected a close, hard-fought game.

"I don't doubt that one bit. Everyone expected a one-run game. I did. It just went our way," said Rutherford. "They fought back after we took the lead. They came back with one key hit to take the lead and we get the key hit in the seventh."

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