Alldred delivers in circle, at plate in Owen J. Roberts’ 3-2 win over Methacton

BUCKTOWN >> Natalie Alldred doesn’t feel like she’s hit her peak as a pitcher.

An unnerving prospect for any teams still having to face the Owen J. Roberts junior this spring … particularly in light of her outing Friday against Methacton.

Alldred went toe-to-toe with the Warriors’ Megan Lineen in a masterful pitchers’ duel of teams jockeying for position in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division. She made her solid mound statistics hold up with a timely at-bat that secured a 3-2 win for the Wildcats (4-2 PAC Liberty, 9-2 overall) in their rematch.

Alldred racked up 11 strikeouts primarily on the strength of a rise pitch that proved to be her big payoff. Solid play by her defensive mates, coupled with late-game run production, proved critical in a game where both hurlers played well enough to win.

“It feels good,” she said of her two-way performance. “But without the rest of our hits, and making them (Methacton) play, it might have been different.”

Methacton (3-4 Liberty, 8-7) gave Lineen run support in the second, the lead holding up through four innings but Roberts pulled back even in the fifth.

OJR then got the game-winner with an Alldred single that drove in Syd Campbell in the sixth before stemming a Warrior rally in the top of the seventh.

“It was a good game,” Methacton head coach Cathy Miller noted, “better than the last time we played them (second week of season).”

Lineen worked a four-hitter, getting just two strikeouts but issuing no walks. She had a one-hit shutout going through four, escaping a bit of a jam in the fourth when Roberts got two runners on base.

She’s helping assuage Miller’s pre-season concerns about being able to replace the graduated Paige Deal despite a stretch of inactivity coming into the 2022 season.

“She was hurt last year,” Miller noted, “so it’s been a couple years that she hasn’t pitched. As the season’s come on, she’s gotten better.”

Alldred struck out the side in the first primarily with her fastball. She then switched to the rise and rang up three straight whiffs in a run spanning the fourth and fifth innings.

“It gives them a whole different look,” Alldred explained.

Two strikeouts in the seventh helped offset Methacton getting two runners on base with one out, Tori Bockrath reaching first on a fielder’s choice play and Nicole Timko (2-for-3, one RBI) hitting to center field.

“She was struggling with command of her curve, so she didn’t throw many,” OJR head coach Steve Winnick noted. “Our pitchers know they can shake off a pitch if they’re uncomfortable. The rise was really working.”

The Warriors’ runs came after Riley Kairer and Bockrath singled at the start of the second. Avery Schwartz plated Kairer with a sacrifice fly to right field, and Timko followed with a single to center.

A throwing error on her hit enabled Methacton’s Liza Flavin to reach second base in the fifth. She came home when Jacai Skonieczny singled with two away, then scored off a Sarah Gatreau hit.

In the sixth, Campbell led off with a single, getting to second on a throwing error. Alldred followed with her game-deciding hit before a double play ended the at-bat.

“Grinding it out … it’s important for us to have a game like this at this point in the season,” Winnick said.

NOTES >> Winnick assessing Alldred’s performance: “She can get better. She has soreness in her arm, so she worked only three innings up to here. She felt good tonight, but she can get better.” … Alldred was touched for six hits by the Warriors, but she matched Lineen by giving up no walks. … Methacton’s double-up in the sixth came as Lineen speared Sophia Winnick’s liner, then threw to first to get Emmie Feltenberger.

METHACTON					O.J. ROBERTS
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Kauffmn lf	3	0	1	0	Gautreau cf	3	0	1	1
Polnsky dp	3	0	0	0	Campbell c	3	1	0	0
McTmny 3b	0	0	0	0	Streeter cr	0	0	0	0
Lineen p	3	0	0	0	Alldred p	3	0	1	1
Kairer 1b	3	1	1	0	Feltenberger dp	3	0	0	0
Woolbert c	3	0	1	0	Epps ss	0	0	0	0
Bockrath ss	3	1	1	0	Winnick 1b	3	0	1	0
Schwartz 2b	2	0	0	1	Egan rf	2	0	0	0
Timko rf	3	0	2	1	Flavin 3b	2	1	0	0
Freese 1b	3	0	0	0	Glass lf	2	0	0	0
					Skonieczny 2b	1	1	1
Totals	26	2	6	2	Totals	23	3	4	3

E-Bockrath 3, McTamney. DP-Methacton 2. LOB-Methacton 4, Owen J. Roberts 2. 2B-Timko, Winnick. SB-Feltenberger. SF-Schwartz.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Methacton
Lineen (L)	6	4	3	1	0	2
Owen J. Roberts
Alldred (W)	7	6	2	2	0	11
T- 1:32.