Vincentian wins third straight WPIAL crown
Vincentian won its third consecutive WPIAL Class A title thanks in large part to the arm of senior Nina Melvin, who struck out 14 in a 5-4, 11-inning victory over Chartiers-Houston at California (Pa.) University's Lilly Field.
Perhaps the real reason for the victory, though, was the Royals' lucky glove.
With one out and a runner on third thanks to the international tiebreaker, Vincentian third baseman Taresa Dongilli stepped out of the batter's box and headed back to the dugout. After a brief discussion with teammate Bridget Melvin, she stepped back to the plate and doubled off Bucs starter Kiersten Conwell. That scored Kaela Huston, put the Royals ahead, 3-2, and started the three-run, 11th-inning rally.
"On my second strike, I completely ripped my batting glove all the way through, and I could feel it when I was batting," Dongilli said. "I needed a glove, and Bridget stepped up. It was a magic batting glove."
It certainly seemed that way when, one out later, Bridget Melvin singled home Dongilli and later scored what turned out to be the winning run on Ashley Darby's triple.
"We're gonna frame it," Dongilli said with a laugh. "I don't know what we'll do, but we'll definitely keep it around for sure."
Whatever spell was on the glove, Vincentian (17-2) needed all of its mojo to hold off a Chartiers-Houston rally in the bottom of the 11th. The Bucs, in fact, had the tying run at second base when Nina Melvin fanned Rachel Tucker to end the game.
"It's disappointing. It's definitely disappointing," Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson said. "But we showed a lot of character coming back and making it a one-run ballgame, and we had an opportunity to tie the game again, but it didn't happen."
Earlier, Vincentian had given up a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third.
After Alyssa Phillippi singled and was bunted to second, Chrissy Scott and Kayla Briggs hit back-to-back singles, loading the bases. Nina Melvin struck out Kelly Dufresne for the second out and got Colby Miller to hit a soft pop-up that should have ended the inning. But Vincentian shortstop Emily Beckley dropped the easy flare, allowing Phillippi and Scott to score and give the Bucs a 2-1 lead.
Vincentian tied it in the seventh. Ashley Darby atoned for an earlier error with a leadoff single and scored on Danielle Melvin's double.
Melvin, though, ran the Royals out of a chance to win the game in that inning when she was called for interference on a grounder to short.
Nina Melvin gave up five hits, struck out 14 and was not touched for an earned run until the 11th inning. She was pitching in her second consecutive WPIAL title game. She was the catcher in 2008 when her sister Trish was the winning pitcher in the school's first championship.
