DuBOIS, Pa. (EYT/D9) – Melia Mitskavich fired a one-hitter while her teammates collected 11 hits and 10 runs to help the DuBois Central Catholic softball team claim the District 9 Class A softball championship Monday afternoon at Heidl Field with a 10-0, five-inning victory over a Forest Area team that was making its first ever appearance in the championship game.
The Cardinals scored in each of the five innings with one run each in the first, third, and fourth, while adding a three-run second and ending the game early with a four-run.
It was DCC’s third straight district crown.
“We had some nerves against Elk County in the semifinal game for whatever reason as we always seem to at that stage,” said DCC head coach George Heigel. “You’d think for as often as we’ve been in that situation, nerves shouldn’t be a problem. But, today we came out and we played a very good game and got contributions up and down the lineup.”
Mitskavich allowed no runs on one hit with no walks and two strikeouts. Even though Forest put the ball in play, the Fires weren’t able to get much solid contact on the ball.
“I can’t say enough about Melia today,” said Heigel. “She’s come on and done a great job for us as she’s not even our top pitcher. Morgan Tyler, our top pitcher, has been a good teammate through this and hasn’t complained about not pitching. Although we were going to use her today if the game had moved onto the sixth inning. We know we’ll probably need to use her in the near future. It’s just hard taking Melia out when she’s been doing so well in her own right.”
Kali Franklin, Emma Suplizio, Savannah Morelli, Madison Hoyt, and Jessy Frank each collected two hits for the Cardinals. Franklin and Suplizio each drove in two runs. Morelli, Hoyt, and Frank each drove in one run. Morgan Tyler added one hit. Mitskavich and Lauren Davidson each drove in a run.
Morelli hit a sacrifice fly in the first for a 1-0 lead driving in Franklin who had earlier walked to lead off the game.
Frank, Franklin, and Suplizio each hit RBI singles to drive in a run each in the second for a 4-0 lead.
Mitskavich hit a sacrifice fly in the third to drive in Morelli who had tripled to start the inning for a 5-0 lead.
Suplizio hit a solo home run in the fourth to bump the lead to 6-0 after four.
Hoyt and Franklin hit RBI singles in the fifth inning while Davidson drove in a run on a fielder’s choice grounder and another run scored as a result of an error to set the final score of 10-0.
Mitskavich retired the first 10 batters she faced before Alexis Oswald reached base on an error in the fourth inning. Izzy Flick collected the only Forest Area hit with a double in the top of the fifth inning.
Flick suffered the loss in the circle, allowing 10 runs, nine earned on 11 hits. She walked two and struck out one.
