DUBOIS, Pa. – It was a strong opening round for District 9 softball teams Monday on the first day of the PIAA tournaments with four of the five D9 teams in action coming away as victors.
(Photo of DCC’s Shay Gulvas. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
In Class 1A, D9 champion DuBois Central Catholic beat Leechburg, 14-4, in five innings, while D9 runner-up Clarion topped Commodore Perry, 6-0. In Class 2A, D9 champion Cranberry defeated Freedom, 10-1, and in Class 3A D9 champ Clearfield hung on to beat Chestnut Ridge, 4-3.
Punxsutawney, the reigning PIAA champion in Class 4A, lost in its quest to defend its title falling to WPIAL champion Elizabeth-Forward 8-2.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 14, LEECHBURG 4, 5 INNINGS
DUBOIS, Pa. – Pounding out 17 hits, including six extra-base hits, DCC scored 11 runs in its final three at bats to beat Leechburg, 14-4, in five innings, in the Class 1A first round at Heindl Field in DuBois.
“We weight lift,” junior shortstop Shay Gulvas, who was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs, said. “That is a main reason we get so many hits. All we do at practice is hit and hit. It seems to come in handy a lot.”
Watch Gulvas’ full postgame interview.
Gulvas was far from alone in leading the DCC offense. Eight different players had at least one hit, including seven with multiple hits.
Maia Cogley joined Gulvas in the three-hit club going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Avery Sickeri (2-for-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs), Ashley Wruble (2-for-3, 1 runs scored, 2 RBIs), Mia Meholick (2-for-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs), Carley Semanick (2-for-3, 1 run scored, 1 RBI) and Shyanne Lundy (2-for-2, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs) all had a pair of hits.
“We can hit,” DCC manager George Heigel said. “It was a good game. We anticipated a good game.”
DCC grabbed a 3-0 lead after on inning with a solo home run by Meholick capping an inning that also saw a Sickeri RBI triple and a Wruble sacrifice fly.
But Leechburg chipped away at the lead scoring single runs in the second and third to get within a run, 3-2.
DCC’s offense, though, broke out the lumber again in the fourth scoring five times to all but put the game away. It sent nine batters to the plate and scored on RBI doubles from Gulvas and Sickeri and run-scoring singles from Wrubvle, Cogley and Lundy.
The offense poured it on in the fifth with Lundy driving in a pair with a triple to right-center and then scoring on a Gulvas base hit.
Then in the sixth, Meholick had an RBI single, Semanick added a run-scoring double and Cogley ended the game with an RBI infield single.
While the offense was doing its thing, freshman Morgan Tyler was limiting Leechburg’s offense allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Aubry Skeel paced Leechburg going 3-for-3 with two RBIs while losing pitcher Emma Ritchie was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.
Ritchie gave up 14 runs, all earned, on 17 hits, a walk and a hit batter while striking out one in 5 ⅓ innings of work.
DCC will take on Claysburg-Kimmel in the quarterfinals Thursday, June 6, at a site and time to be announced. Claysburg-Kimmel, which beat DCC 5-4 in the quarterfinals last year, knocked off Union (New Castle), 11-7, Monday.
CLARION 6, COMMODORE PERRY 0
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Kait Constantino continued her dominance in the circle striking out 12 while allowing just three hits to lead Clarion into the second round of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs with a 6-0 win over District 10 champion Commodore Perry at Slippery Rock University.
The victory was Clarion’s first in PIAA playoff action since making it to the PIAA Class 1A title game in 2011.
“It’s been eight years since we’ve been here,” Clarion manager Dan Shofestall said. “We won the Western Final (in 2011) on this same field. We feel good about it. I am so happy for these girls. They’ve worked so hard this year to get to this point, the point where we’re going to move on. Yea, it means a lot to us. You know, we are representing the KSAC now and District 9, our school, our parents, grandparents, we are representing everybody. I’m just so happy and proud to be a part of that.”
Constantino is a big reason Clarion is playing in the final eight in Class 1A. The junior, who also walked a batter, has now struck out 66 batters in 35 postseason innings while giving up runs in just two of those innings.
“She’s been strong all year, especially here in the playoffs,” Shofestall said. “She threw well again today.”
Watch Shofestall’s full postgame interview.
Clarion scored all the runs it needed in the bottom of the first when Jordan Best doubled home her older sister, Carly Best, who was hit by a pitch, with two outs and then scored when Tori Vega reached on an error.
The Lady Cats, though, added on just to make sure pushing the lead to 5-0 by the end of the third inning.
Noel Anthony’s sacrifice fly in the second scored Lindsey Kemmer, who singled leading off the inning.
Kemmer was right in the middle of Clarion’s two-run third scoring Brenna Campbell and Jordan Best, with a two-out double to left.
Campbell then hit a home run that bounced off the top of the fence and then went over in the fifth to end the scoring for the Lady Cats.
Mattison Arnett took the loss going six innings allowing six runs, four earned, on five hits, a walk and a hit batter while striking out nine.
The Lady Cats task gets that much tougher in the PIAA quarterfinals as it faces two-time defending state champion West Greene, which has been to three straight PIAA Class 1A title games. That game will be Thursday, June 6, at a site and time to be announced. West Green beat Rockwood, 8-1.
CRANBERRY 10, FREEDOM 1
DUBOIS, Pa. – After allowing the first three batters to reach on a hit batter, a walk and an RBI single, Andrea Watson settled down and didn’t allow another run to help Cranberry to its first-ever PIAA softball win, 10-1, over Freedom in the Class 2A first round at Heindl Field in DuBois.
“I am not going to lie, I had a lot of nerves coming into this,” Watson said. “This could be the decision maker in how far Cranberry goes, so I was really nervous. But, then, I pulled myself together with help from my team and got it going.”
Rachel McCauley played a big role in the Cranberry offensive outburst going 3-for-4 with a double and five RBIs.
“Honestly, that’s the best I have felt the whole season,” McCauley said. “I went up there with so much confidence. This is my senior year. This could have been my last game. I did not want to end on a bad game.”
Watch the McCaulley/Watson postgame interview.
Watson helped herself by going 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored, Kaylie Bruce was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI, Emily Duncan was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and Maddie Cornelius scored three times.
Losing pitcher Madison Slowinski was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Freedom.
Slowinski gave up 10 runs, six earned, on 10 hits and seven walks while striking out four in six innings of work.
Watson, meanwhile, was charged with the one earned runs on seven hits, two walks and the hit batter while striking out four.
Cranberry, which lost to Mohawk, 10-5, in the opening round last year, moves on to face WPIAL champion Laurel, a 5-3 winner over Wilmington, in the quarterfinals Thursday, June 6, at a site and time to be announced.
“This feels fantastic,” Cranberry manager Glenn Barcinas said. “We got here (the first round) last year. The time before that was eight years ago. We’ve been knocking on the door. We just couldn’t get past the hump on the first-round game. Finally, we did. It feels great.”
CLEARFIELD 4, CHESTNUT RIDGE 3
DUBOIS, Pa. – Leading 4-0 going to the bottom of the seventh, Clearfield hung on for dear life to beat Chestnut Ridge, 4-3, in the opening round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs at Heindl Field in DuBois.
The Lady Bison used solo runs in the first, third, sixth and seventh to build the 4-0 lead for freshman starter Emma Hipps, who was cruising allowing four infield singles while striking out nine in her first six innings of work.
But in the seventh, a leadoff walk was followed by a single to put two runners on for the Lions. A one-out base hit by Katie Gibbner then made it 4-1 before Lydia Mock followed with a run-scoring hit to make it 4-2.
That prompted a circle visit from Clearfield manager Derek Danver.
“I just tried to calm them down a little bit,” Danver said. “They were kind of getting a little nervous. I didn’t really say anything strategy-wise. I just went out and chatted a little bit to kind of get them calmed down and realize that we needed two outs to win the game.”
After Mock stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, Hipps got Kayla Diehl to pop out to second before uncorking a wild pitch that nearly ended the game when catcher Olivia Bender fired to Hipps covering the plate. But just as the umpire was about to call Gibbner out, he noticed the ball got away from Hipps allowing the run to score making it 4-3 and putting the tying run 60 feet away.
But Hipps struck out Chestnut Ridge’s No. 3 hitter, Makayla Weyent to end the game.
“She is amazing,” Karly Rumsky, one of the few veterans on the young Clearfield team, said. “Everything she does, she is so calm. She doesn’t let anything get to her. Like those three runs, I just knew she was going to get that batter. She is so confident. She stays calm the whole time.”
Watch Rumsky’s full postgame interview.
Clearfield built the 4-0 lead partly on the strength of the play of Rumsky, who was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
She scored the Lady Bison’s first run and then scored what turned out to be a very important fourth run in the top of the seventh.
Both runs were scored in a similar manner.
In the first, she led off with a single, stole second and was moved to third on a ground out by Morgan Cheek before scoring on a wild pitch.
In the seventh, she again led off with a single, stole second again and was again moved to third on a groundout by Cheek before scoring on a single to center by Olivia Bender.
In between Rumsky’s two runs, Clearfield’s offense used pretty much the same formula to score its other two runs.
In the third, Hipps had a one-out single to left, stole second and went to third on a Lauren Ressler single to left before scoring on a wild pitch.
Then in the sixth, Kyra Mollura beat out an infield single with two outs before going to second when Casey English was walked and scoring on an Alexis Burton single to center.
Hipps added a pair of hits, including a triple, and scored a run for Clearfield.
Mock was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Chestnut Ridge with Isabella Wingard going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored and Gibbner going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Hipps’ final line was seven innings pitched, three runs, all earned, allowed on seven hits and two walks while striking out 10.
Attie Milliron took the loss going seven innings allowing four runs, all earned, on 10 hits and two walks while striking out six.
Clearfield moves into the quarterfinals where it will play WPIAL champion Avonworth, an 8-1 winner over Fort LeBoeuf, Thursday, June 6, at a site and time to be announced.
“Honestly, this is all I could ever hope for my whole high school career,” Rumsky said. “I just wanted to be successful at softball, and now I have the girls to do it with me and it means the world to me to be in the state playoffs and onto the second round.”
ELIZABETH-FORWARD 8, PUNXSUTAWNEY 2
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A year ago on its way to the PIAA Class 4A title, Punxsutawney defeated Elizabeth-Forward, 8-0, in the opening round.
On Monday, the Warriors turned the tide and ended the Lady Chucks title defense before it could get started with an 8-2 victory at Peters Township High School.
A six-run third inning helped E-F build an 8-0 lead after five before Punxsutawney scored solo runs in the sixth and seventh.
Taylor Ludwick had three hits for the Warriors and Alexi Argyros drove in three runs.
Ludwick was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, while Argyros was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Brianna Sersevic also added a pair of RBIs going 1-for-3 with a run scored, Anna Resnick was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI and Grace Smith was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Grace Aikens paced Punxsutawney going 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Holly Hartman added a double and an RBI.
Kailey Larcinese got the win going seven innings allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits, four walks and two hit batters while striking out nine.
Kendal Johnston took the loss giving up seven runs, all earned, on eight hits and two walks while striking out two in two-plus innings of work. Elliott Ferrent went four innings giving up one run on four hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out two.
