Lady Mounties continue 2017 playoff run

PHILIPSBURG — The Philipsburg-Osceola softball team was not perfect in its District 6 opening round home game against West Shamokin on May 22.

The Mounties committed an error.

Otherwise, junior pitcher Kamryn Harris threw a no-hitter, and P-O crashed 13 hits, including two home runs, in its six-inning, 10-0 sprint over the Lady Wolves.

Harris was particularly impressive. She didn’t allow a hit, struck out 11 and walked none in six innings of work. She struck out seven of the first 10 hitters she faced, and six of her strikeouts came on called third strikes. At one point, West Shamokin hitters resorted to bunting (down by seven runs) so they could get the ball in play.

And, oh, yeah, she had two extra-base hits, scored three runs and hit the walk-off, two-run homer in the sixth inning that ended the game.

‘Cam looked pretty dominant throughout the game,’ Philipsburg-Osceola coach Jim Gonder said. ‘She kept the ball low, mixed her pitches up and she did a nice job for us.’

With Harris throwing effectively as she was, P-O was never really threatened. Maddie Lucas started things for the Mounties with a long first-inning home run that drove in Hannah Thompson before her for a 2-0 early lead.

‘I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball,’ Lucas said.

The Mounties then pulled away with some two-out lightning in the third. After Thompson and Lucas both flew out, Harris was hit by a pitch. Jayde Burge followed with a single to put two runners on, and catcher Kylie Thal followed that with an RBI single to make the score 3-0.

Sadie Granville was next, and she singled to left field, scoring both Burge and Thal and giving P-O a 5-0 lead.

Two more runs on RBI hits by Harris (a double) and Burge in the fourth inning essentially put the game away at 7-0.

‘We didn’t know what to expect coming into the game,’ Gonder said. ‘They (the Wolves) had a good record, and fortunately Maddie jump started us in the first inning putting us up 2-0, and Kam faced the minimum number of batters.’

West Shamokin’s only baserunner came in the sixth inning when right-fielder Gabby Olinger reached after an error. No real problem, though, because P-O catcher Thal picked Olinger off with a perfect throw behind her during the next at bat. Harris took care of the next two batters to keep her no-hitter in order.

The Mounties ended it in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Thompson doubled and was immediately driven in with a single by Lucas. At that point, Harris formally ended the game with a home run over the right-center field fence.

‘When I came into this game I felt really confident,’ Harris said. ‘I knew this was going to be the game that I was going to go out and do my best and leave it all out on the field. When I went up to bat (in the sixth) I was just doing it for my team at that point. We want to move on and we want to see how far we can go in this season.’

The answer to that will begin to unfold  in the D-6 semifinals. No. 3 Penn Cambria, which defeated BEA on May 22, 4-2, will be the opponent in a critically important game for both teams.

The winner, of course, will advance to the finals at Penn State’s Beard Field on Tuesday, May 31, but since two teams from AAA will advance to the PIAA Tournament, the semifinal winner will also advance and begin PIAA play Thursday, June 8.

The loser will see its season end.