Maniglia, Picini Lead Wolverine Softball To 3-1 Victory At Annandale

Pitcher Morgan Maniglia and catcher Jasmine Picini led the West Potomac Wolverines to a 3-1 victory Tuesday night at Annandale High School.

Maniglia pitched a complete game, allowing only three hits and striking out seven in just less than 120 pitches.

“We were all ready for this game,” said the Wolverine captain. “I just took it one pitch at a time.”

Fellow captain and catcher Picini had two doubles and a run. The junior also helped her team out defensively by throwing out three baserunners, two of which were pickoffs.

“It felt really good to perform both defensively and offensively,” said Picini, who has a tendency to get wild with her throws at times. “I was just in the zone tonight and made some nice throws.”

“[Picini] sometimes gets made fun of for being wild,” said Wolverines Coach Craig Maniglia. “But she’s just that good when she’s locked in.”

The Wolverines made a few errors, but didn’t let them get in the way of finish the game on top.

“They played together and didn’t get down,” Maniglia said. “They stayed in the game even after some tough errors.”

Annandale starting pitcher Isabelle Yaroch struck out 10 batters. She is committed to play at Queens University next year.

“[Facing Yaroch] was no easy task,” said coach Maniglia. “She is already signed to play at Queens next year and was bringing it.”

Annandale scored its run on a deep double to left by junior Casey Fait. The ball missed being a 2-run home run by only a couple of feet.

The Wolverines were glad to get a district win after Friday’s loss to South County.

“It was redemption for Friday.” said Morgan Maniglia. “It felt good.”

“We had a total team effort,” said coach Maniglia. “It was very cold tonight and they stuck it out and played hard as a team.”