CLAYSBURG — Seniors who have played four years for Bald Eagle Area never experienced the gut-punch of losing a District 6 title game in their careers.
The second-seeded Lady Eagles won their fourth straight District 6 Class 3A championship with an 8-0 victory over ninth-seeded Philipsburg-Osceola on Thursday, May 29, on the turf at Claysburg-Kimmel High School in a clash between Centre County foes.
“I guess to say I was excited to see the team capture their fourth straight title would be an understatement,” BEA coach Don Lucas said. “The legacy of this group of seniors will be hard to top and hopefully, they can continue to write the final chapter.
“Regardless of what transpires, they are an outstanding group of young ladies who are great leaders and role models for their teammates.”
It was another good week for the four remaining Centre County softball teams.
In addition to BEA winning its title and P-O advancing to the state playoffs, District 6 champions State College and Bellefonte won their Tuesday, May 27, sub-regional games at Mount Aloysius College to advance to the state playoffs.
State College earned a 1-0 win in eight innings over District 10 champion McDowell, and Bellefonte followed by crushing District 8 champ Carrick, 16-1, in four innings.
Unfortunately, only BEA won its first-round state playoff game, 8-2, over District 7 third-place Avonworth on Monday, June 2, at home. State College lost at District 7 champion Hempfield, 2-1, in Class 6A. Bellefonte lost to Class 4A District 7 runner-up Blackhawk, 9-3, at home. Susquenita eliminated P-O, 11-0, at home.
The Lady Eagles (20-3) advanced to the Thursday, June 5, quarterfinals against District 9 champion Saint Marys, a 4-2 winner over District 7 champ Mohawk, at a site and time that wasn’t set as of Monday, June 2.
P-O (14-8) had beaten three straight higher seeded teams to reach the district title game, but the Lady Eagles put the game out of reach when they erupted for five runs in the second inning.
That was more than enough of a cushion for BEA senior ace Sierra Albright, who tossed a three-hitter, struck out five and walked two in recording her 14th shutout of the season.
P-O pitcher Alivia Bizzarri yielded seven hits, struck out nine, walked two and hit three batters.
With one out and two runners on base, Albright put down a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error scored Raelee Repasky. Taylor Habovick knocked in Maelee Yoder with a single, and semifinal hero Kendall Gavlock singled to center to score courtesy runner Casey Angelotti. Two wild pitches chased Habovick and Gavlock home.
“It was a good game. We had a bad second inning that we couldn’t recover from,” P-O coach Mike Herr said. “They are a good team and well coached. Other than that second inning, I thought it was a well played game. We hit the ball just right at people. Their defense played a great game, and Albright threw a good game.”
Gavlock went 3-for-3, while Repasky had two hits.
P-O’s best chance to score came in the sixth. Ashlyn Havens led off with a single to center field. BEA catcher Kailey Eckert caught her stealing second. After shortstop Addisyn Burns made a great stop of a ground ball for the second out, Bizzarri laced a double to left-center. Albright induced a ground ball out for the third out.
BEA responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Burns singled in two runs and Repasky doubled her in.
“I felt optimistically pretty good with a five-run lead,” Lucas said. “But a team as good as P-O, who is capable of scoring runs in bunches, I felt better with an eight run lead.”
BEA came out strong against Avonworth, scoring two runs in the first and second inning. That’s all Albright needed as she tossed a three-hitter, struck out eight, walked one and hit three batters. She also had two hits.
Eckert and Sydney Thompson had two hits and two RBIs apiece, while Alexa Baney delivered two hits. Gavlock drove in two runs.
STATE COLLEGE
State College and McDowell went scoreless through the first seven innings and the top of the eighth as State College pitcher Addison Harpster and McDowell’s Gabrielle Deluca dueled in the pitching circle.
But with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Paige Moriarta on second after a double and her third hit, Gabrielle McTavish drove Moriarta in with a double to give the Lady Little Lions the 1-0 win over McDowell (19-4).
“It was huge,” State College coach Courtney Morrison said. “Gaby hit the first pitch foul, but [it was] the best contact she had for the day. At that point I knew she was ready and was going to be aggressive throughout her at-bat. She hit the ball solid in the 5-6 hole and at that point, I knew Paige was going to score.”
Harpster tossed a one-hitter, struck out a whopping 17 and walked five. Deluca gave up eight hits, struck out 16 and walked one. Sydney Wells had two hits off of Deluca, who was the winning pitcher when McDowell beat State College, 5-2, in the sub-regional last year.
“Our team continues to believe in each other and does not get flustered,” Morrison said. “Almost every inning we had runners in scoring position, which was huge, and we just continued to fight.”
The Little Lady Lions and Hempfield (25-1) were scoreless through the first five innings as Harpster was in command. The senior finished with a five-hitter, struck out six and walked none. Hempfield pitcher Riley Miller fired a one-hitter, struck out seven and walked one.
But Hempfield scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth, including one unearned run. State College (11-9) responded with an unearned run in the top of the seventh, but the rally fell short.
“We continued to believe and fought until the end,” Morrison said. “The seven seniors have had a historic season making it back to the first round of states, which has not been done since 2011.
“The girls held their composure until the very end and competed through every play, at-bat and inning. I could not be more proud.”
BELLEFONTE
Bellefonte dominated Carrick from the start, scoring four in the first inning, three in the third and nine runs in the fourth.
The Lady Red Raiders collected 10 hits, eight walks and reached on three Carrick errors. Freshman No. 9 hitter Sloan Moore went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Freshman No. 7 hitter Adrienne Masullo went 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior leadoff hitter Sadie Ripka also had two hits, one RBI and a run scored.
Freshman pitcher Abby Herr tossed a one-hitter, struck out nine and walked one. She also doubled, knocked in a run and scored twice.
“The girls played great,” Bellefonte coach Erica DeVinney said. “They battled through cold and rainy weather and came out with the win. They have been working hard and staying focused on the goals we make.”
Blackhawk (11-5) only outhit Bellefonte, 8-7, but the Cougars had more productive hits. Moore continued to lead Bellefonte (16-3) offensively, going 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Ripka had two hits, an RBI and scored a run. Jaylee Lose added a double.
Pitchers Masullo and Herr combined to strike eight and walk eight.
“The girls continued to hit the ball, work together on the field as a whole team and battle through until the end,” DeVinney said. “I am very proud of their grit and hard work that they put in this season. It was a wonderful group of girls to coach.”
