Armstrong senior Madison Baker had never hit a home run in a game.
Not in a high school game.
Not in a travel game.
Never.
“Only in practice,” she said.
Baker finally hit her first Thursday, a blast that propelled Armstrong to a WPIAL title.
Baker’s two-run home run put Armstrong in the lead and ignited a seven-run sixth inning as the top-seeded River Hawks rallied to defeat No. 10 Thomas Jefferson, 9-3, in the Class 5A championship at PennWest California’s Lilley Field.
Armstrong (18-3), which was appearing in the final for the fourth consecutive season, captured its second title. The River Hawks claimed their first in 2022. The championship win comes a year after the River Hawks, also as a No. 1 seed, were beaten by Trinity in the title game.
It looked like Thomas Jefferson (12-8), which fell to Armstrong in the quarterfinals the previous two seasons, might be nearing its second title as it took a 3-2 lead to the bottom of the sixth inning. Armstrong’s potent offense was limited to four hits over the first five innings, and time was running out. But after Lily Gutherie produced a one-out infield single, Baker, Armstrong’s pitcher and No. 9 hitter, smacked a ball to left that cleared the fence for her first career home run to give the River Hawks a 4-3 lead.
“Unlikely hero,” first-year Armstrong coach Keith Shaffer said. “That’s her first home run in a high school game as a senior in the WPIAL championship. The look on her face as she came around third base was phenomenal. I’m so proud of her and just so happy for her. It’s just amazing.”
Amazing and, for Baker, unbelievable.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” she said.
But it was real, so much so that Baker tightly clutched the softball she hit for the home run in her right hand as she spoke to a reporter following the game.
“All I knew was that we needed to score runs,” she said. “I thought it was just going to be a little blooper in there to get me on base. All I hear is, ‘Go ball.’ Probably the biggest moment ever.”
And with that, the floodgates opened. Gutherie turned out to be a trendsetter, as she was the first of seven consecutive Armstrong hitters to reach via hit. After the go-ahead home run, Emma Paul, Natalie Zeigler, Shelby Cloak and Jessie Pugh all singled, with Cloak and Pugh driving in runs. That set the stage for Abby Bauer, whose three-run homer provided Armstrong with its fifth, sixth and seventh runs of the inning, giving the River Hawks a commanding 9-3 lead.
“I always have faith in our offense,” Paul said. “I was waiting for us to break it open like I knew we would. And in the sixth inning it came on.”
It was the second WPIAL championship appearance of the year for Paul, a standout senior shortstop and Fairmont State softball recruit who scored 36 points in Armstrong’s loss to South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 5A basketball championship.
Baker is known most for her pitching, not her hitting, and she worked around a single and hit batsman to close out the win in the seventh. Baker gave up three runs (two earned), six hits and two walks while striking out eight. She threw 126 pitches, 86 of which went for strikes.
Cloak, Pugh, Gutherie and Jordyn Klingensmith all had two hits for Armstrong, which collected 12 overall. Pugh and Bauer both had three RBIs, while Cloak scored three runs.
Pugh drove in the game’s first two runs, hitting an RBI double in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third. Thomas Jefferson right fielder Sophia Janosko made a diving catch on that sacrifice fly and followed with another as she robbed Bauer of a hit. Thomas Jefferson registered another fine defensive play in the fourth when it turned a double play after the first two Armstrong hitters of the inning reached base. Second baseman Morgan Alisesky caught a liner off the bat from Bauer and threw to first baseman Taylor Karpac to complete the double play.
“We hit the ball hard all game,” Shaffer said. “They made some phenomenal plays. Their right fielder made two diving plays in a row.”
Thomas Jefferson made some plays offensively, too. After Zoe Krizan and Alisesky hit back-to-back singles to begin the fourth, Alayna Grese ripped a two-run double to knot the score. An inning later, the Jaguars took a 3-2 lead courtesy of Adalina Bracco’s sacrifice fly which followed consecutive singles by Hannah Alonso and Olivia Stock.
Alisesky and Stock had two hits apiece for Thomas Jefferson, which started just two seniors.
Armstrong started five seniors, though, and one of them, Baker, notched a home run neither she nor the Armstrong faithful will likely ever forget.
“It’s awesome,” Paul said. “I’m so happy for her. There’s nobody else I’d want it to be.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.