WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Emily Staab stood in the Moniteau huddle in center field after the Warriors’ softball team had finished off an improbable extra-inning rally to beat rival Karns City.
“I vote to never win like this again,” she said, causing an eruption of laughter from her teammates.
“It was a nail-biter,” Autumn Stewart added. “I don’t have any left.”
That’s because Moniteau had to scratch and claw its way back into the game more than once, including scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning after falling behind 14-8 in the top of the inning to win 15-14 on Wednesday afternoon in wind-swept Cherry Township.
(Pictured above, members of the Moniteau softball team celebrate on the field after a 15-14 win over Karns City)
“I was kind of speechless,” said Moniteau coach Bob Rottman. “We needed six and we got seven and I give credit to these girls. They never bowed their head. They kept fighting and good things happened. They kept putting the ball in play that last inning and got some big hits, timely hits.”
The wild eighth inning was a microcosm of a crazy, back-and-forth game.
Bailee O’Donnell hit a two-run double to break the 8-8 tie with one out in the top of the eighth.
Karns City then added four more runs on a RBI groundout by Lyrik Reed, RBI doubles by Addison Burrows and Jess Dunn and a run-scoring single by Jada Polczynski.
But no lead was safe in this one.
Addy Williams showed that repeatedly.
Williams hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to give Moniteau a 4-3 lead. She delivered another go-ahead hit after the Warriors fell behind 6-4 in the top of the fifth with a single to center to make it 7-6.
Emma Covert had homered earlier in the inning for Moniteau, a bomb that easily cleared the right-center fence.
But Williams’ biggest hit came in the eighth.
The junior laced a single to left field that scored Staab with the tying run. Ashley Huffman followed with a bases loaded walk to put an end to one of the most memorable games in the long Moniteau-KC softball rivalry.
(Moniteau’s Addy Williams)
Williams was 5 for 5 with a homer and five RBIs. She came into the game on a cold streak.
She certainly broke out of her funk on Wednesday.
“It felt amazing,” Williams said. “I knew I could do it. I knew my team needed me and I just did what I had to do. It felt so nice because I’ve been struggling hitting.”
“She was clutch,” Rottman said. “She hit her first home run of her high school career ever, so she came up big for us. So did Ashley Huffman. Really, everyone. Everyone had a good game. We just had a few who had great games.”
Even down by six entering the bottom of the eighth, there was no panic in the Moniteau dugout.
The Warriors believed immediately.
“I felt as soon as we got one runner on (in the eighth) that we could do it,” Williams added. “I knew we could do it right from the beginning. It was a team win. It wasn’t just one person or two people. It was a team.”
Williams actually got the rally started with a single. Huffman then reached on an error and Mariska Shunk made it 14-9 with a single to right.
Two more singles off the bats of Brianna Rottman and Covert loaded the bases. Autumn Stewart hit a sharp grounder to Reed. The KC shortstop initially bobbled the ball before regrouping and tagging Rottman. She flipped to second and narrowly missed getting Covert for a double play.
Shunk scored on the play to make it 14-11.
Staab followed with a RBI single to center. Alex Stewart then singled to load the bases before Lily Staab was hit by a pitch to score Autumn Stewart to make it 14-13.
That set up the game-tying and game-winning plate appearances by Williams and Huffman.
Moniteau (4-2) had 17 hits in the game, which helped the Warriors overcome six errors.
Only six of the 14 runs Covert gave up in the circle were earned.
Burrows was also victimized by defensive woes. Karns City, which had 19 hits, committed five errors and only seven of the 15 runs Burrows gave up were earned.
“We played our worst defensive game of the year and I hope it’s the worst that we end up playing all year,” Rottman said of his usually sound defense. “We still found a way to win. We gave them a ton of extra outs and they capitalized. To their credit, they can hit the ball.”
Karns City (4-3) has shown that all year.
This was the second 15-14 game the Gremlins have played already this season. They won the first one over Keystone.
“Oh my gosh, I’m getting tired of these games,” said Karns City coach Mike Stitt, smiling. “You know, we’re a good hitting team that can go toe to toe with anyone in the KSAC. That’s why I told them keep your heads up. They battled. We battled. It was a back and forth game.”
Polczynski had four hits, including a double and four runs scored. Nicole Taylor also went 4 for 6 drove in two and O’Donnell had a pair of doubles for the Gremlins.
It was the first win for Moniteau (4-2) over Karns City since 2017.
“I’m so proud of them for sticking in there,” Rottman said. “And hats off to Karns City. They’re a good squad.”
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