YOUNGSVILLE — For the second straight day, Youngsville’s softball team kept things close before falling just short with a 4-3 loss to Rocky Grove on Wednesday at Youngsville High School.

The Orioles didn’t take long to start the scoring, plating a run in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly. That early lead would not last for long, however, as Youngsville snatched the lead away in its first at-bat of the day.

Alyssa Gentz led off with a walk and Hailey Gray delivered a one-out single to bring Ireland Abraham to the plate. Abraham crushed a pitch deep to right and cleared the bases with a two-run triple that put the Eagles ahead.

Rocky Grove tied the game in the top of the second with an unearned run and pulled ahead 3-2 in the top of the third. Freshman Abigail Mawhinny led off with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout from teammate Zoe Cresswell.

That one run lead was nearly doubled to two in the fourth inning but was denied due to a great defensive play from left fielder Caitlyn Pikna. Pikna fielded a Rocky Grove single and fired to the catcher Gentz at home plate for the final out of the fourth.

Youngsville’s best chance at jumping ahead came in the bottom of that inning. Abraham walked and Pikna reached on a two-out single before Haley Kent walked to load the bases. All three runners would wind up being stranded as the Eagles left the bases loaded to end an inning for the third time in two days.

The Orioles would finally make it a two-run lead in the fifth on an RBI single from Elizabeth Mawhinny, however, the Eagles cut the lead back to one in the bottom of the fifth with an unconventional run. Marli Rectenwald was on first and attempted to steal second before the throw flew into the outfield. That allowed Rectenwald to score all the way from first and make it a 4-3 game.

Youngsville’s defense stepped up to keep things at a one-run deficit with a couple of key plays. A double play ended the sixth inning and Gray made a diving snag on a line drive between shortstop and third during the seventh inning.

Despite the strong defense, Youngsville’s offense could only muster a single base runner in the final two innings and the Orioles were able to escape with the one run win.

The Eagles did get a measure of revenge in the junior varsity game with a 6-5 victory. Peytynn Kirby had a triple for the winners and Desirae Merritt was 2 for 2 with a double. Pikna and Sophia DePasquale also had singles, and Maci Benton was the winning pitcher.

Youngsville will play its third game in as many days on Thursday when it welcomes Eisenhower for Senior Day at Youngsville High School. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

IROQUOIS DOWNS KNIGHTS

ERIE — The Eisenhower Knights visited Iroquois and dropped a Region 2 softball game 8-3 to the Braves.

Iroquois led 3-0 early before Eisenhower cut the lead to 3-1.

The Braves quickly added to their lead when they plated two runners to make the score 5-1.

Iroquois would add three runs in the fifth inning to increase its lead to 8-1 before the Knights would add a pair of runs in the sixth to make the final score 8-3.

Samantha Childs took the loss for Eisenhower. The junior right-hander gave up nine hits and eight runs (three earned). She struck out three and walked three in five innings of work. Sophomore Abbie Darr worked the sixth inning and did not allow a hit and struck out one.

Riley Gafner led Eisenhower with two hits in three at-bats, an RBI and two stolen bases. Haley Highouse had the other Eisenhower RBI.

“The girls never gave up, which is nice to see from a young team,” Eisenhower head coach Rich Pascuzzi. “We did have three errors, but there are a lot of positives happening which is nice to see from our girls. We just have to stay together and concentrate.

Eisenhower is back in action today when its travels to Youngsville for a 4 p.m. game.