Danko ignites Maplewood past Mathews

May 19, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

By DAN HINER

BAZETTA TOWNSHIP

Maplewood shortstop Maria Danko’s first inside-the-park homer helped the Maplewood High School softball team oust top-seeded Mathews, 5-1, in the Division IV district softball semifinals at Candlelite Knolls.

In the first inning, Danko hit a line drive down the left-field line that rolled to the fence. The Mustangs were unable to get the ball back into the infield before she reached home.

“I was not expecting that,” Danko said. “My hitting’s been a little iffy lately, but I was so excited for this game all day. It was just building up. I waited for the first strike of the game.”

Maplewood head coach Robin Rae said Danko’s homer “jump started” the team’s offense early in the game.

“I don’t think they were ready for that,” Rae said.

Emilei Peterson followed the homer by manufacturing a run of her own. After an infield single, Peterson stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. A Mathews throwing error to third base allowed Peterson to score.

Maplewood added on to the lead in the third inning. With two out and Danko at first base, Josie Campbell hit a towering homer to left field to extend the lead to 4-0.

“I definitely think it sets a good example for our whole team,” Campbell said. “My first thought is ‘if I have my teammates on base, I just want to get them home.’ If that be a home run or a base hit, I’ll take either.”

Rae said the Rockets needed to play quality defense in order to beat Mathews.

“They’re number four in the state,” Rae said. “I knew if we come out to play, we have the potential.

“The other day, we had four errors in a row — four consecutive batters,” Rae said. “You can’t do that. If we limit our errors then we have a chance, and that’s what we did tonight. We had our mistakes but not too many.”

The Rockets added another insurance run in the tfifth inning. Emily Nay reached base on an infield single. Peterson doubled to left-center field to drive in Nay.

Mathews (21-7, 13-3 Northeastern Athletic Conference) scored in the sixth inning. Mariah Hoff walked and advanced to third base after back-to-back ground balls, She scored after a failed pickoff attempt that saw the ball roll into left field.

In their final at-bat, the Mustangs loaded the with one out. But the next two batters were unable to put the ball in play.