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Raiders’ Yanek no-hits Mooney in six
By Tom Williams
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
Minutes after Caragyn Yanek had tossed her first varsity no-hitter, the South Range freshman was unaware of her accomplishment.
“I thought they had something,” said Yanek after the Raiders’ 10-0 six-inning victory over Cardinal Mooney in the Division III softball tournament. “Wow — it feels amazing.
“I couldn’t have done it without the team I have behind me.”
Stevie Taylor, the Raiders’ lone senior, led the offense with three doubles, a sacrifice fly and four RBIs. Two of them came on her walk-off double in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Sarah Moretti reached base four times and scored three runs. Taylor Helon and Morgan Czopur scored two runs each while Codi Taylor doubled.
“She was very impressive,” Mooney head coach Mark Rinehart said, “but so is the whole team. They’re fast, they execute, they play good defense.
“When you play a quality opponent, you need to scratch out a few runs and make all of the plays on defense,” Rinehart said. “We were able to play a handful of good innings but the pressure they kept putting on us wore us down.”
Yanek (11-3) struck out nine batters and walked two (Jamie DiFabio in the fourth inning and Bridget Sweeney in the sixth).
“Caragyn did great today,” said Moretti, the Raiders’ junior catcher. “She was hitting the corners, which is important especially for a freshman.”
Rinehart agreed.
“She pitched beyond her years,” Rinehart said. “We didn’t show good enough discipline staying off the high pitch.
“She was able to move it around. When she got behind in the count, she was able to not give in. She was able to throw quality pitches.”
The Raiders (22-5) wasted no time grabbing the lead. After Moretti walked, Helon’s sacrifice bunt allowed her to race to third base. Taylor’s sacrifice fly to center fielder Brittany Hendricks gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
The Inter Tri-County League Tier One champions added three runs in the third inning, one in the fourth and five in the sixth.
Yanek’s older sisters Madison and Derrian also pitched for the Raiders.
“I hope I can follow in their footsteps and make them proud,” Yanek said.
South Range head coach Don Feren called Yanek’s performance “phenomenal. She looked like a senior – you couldn’t tell there was any pressure on her.”
Moretti caught for Darrian last season. She said the sisters are similar in some respects but “they have different strong pitches.”
The Cardinals (9-7) are scheduled to play Ursuline today in a regular-season game. They have six seniors — pitcher Tiffany Komara, outfielder Kayla Lanzo, Sydney Brown, Nicolette Filo, Chaylianna Salughter and Melinda Toth.
“The six seniors have done everything that we’ve asked them to,” Rinehart said. “They are great representatives of Cardinal Mooney. Tiffany Komara pitches her heart out.
“Our whole infield and catcher are freshmen and sophomores, and our designated hitter is a freshman,” Rinehart said. “The strength of our team, as far as kids who have experience before they got to Mooney, are our ninth and 10th graders.
“We’re excited about the young talent that we have.”