PHILIPBURG — Philipsburg-Osceola softball team’s power surge against Bald Eagle Area on April 18 at the Curtis Park Athletic Complex carried the Lady Mounties to their seventh straight win, 10-4.
P-O, which hasn’t lost since the season-opening game against Bellwood-Antis on March 24, preceded the BEA win with one-run wins at Bellefonte, 2-1, on April 16 and at West Branch, 5-4, the next day. P-O followed the BEA win with a 9-4 win at Tyrone on April 20.
The Lady Mounties (10-1) hit four home runs against BEA. Kendyl Meersand and Mia Butler hit two-run homers, while Haylie Koptchak and Emily Gustkey smacked solo home runs.
P-O managed only three hits off of Bellefonte starter Adrienne Masullo and reliever Abby Herr, but two of them were run-producing hits. Macie Bush knocked in Gustkey in the first inning with a single. In the third, Morgan Vaughn tripled in Bush.
“Bellefonte had a great team and a dynamic pitching duo, but we were able to pull through,” P-O coach Becca Kephart said. ”We needed to be more aggressive at the plate.
Bellefonte’s Riley Santostefano went 2-for-3 with a home run off of Bush in the fourth inning. Bush tossed a four-hitter, struck out one and walked one in seven innings.
“Macie was very consistent the entire game, and really showed up for her team, Kephart said. “Macie Bush is such a hard worker, and I am glad that her hard work and dedication are paying off.”
P-O and West Branch were tied, 4-4, in the top of the seventh, but Butler’s single to right-center field chased Gustkey home with the go-ahead run. Butler had three hits, including a double, and three RBIs.
Gustkey and Maddyx Hampton had two hits apiece in P-O’s 11-hit attack. Bush relieved Abrianna Inhoof and got the win, giving up four hits and one run while striking out four and walking none in four innings.
LUCAS GETS 400TH WIN
Bald Eagle Area preceded the loss to P-O with a 7-5 win at Clearfield on April 16 and a 14-2 rout at Chestnut Ridge that netted coach Don Lucas his 400th career win.
Against Chestnut Ridge, the Lady Eagles collected 12 hits. Raelee Repasky hit a two-run home run, tripled and drove in four runs, while Kendall Gavlock had two hits and three RBIs. Lilly Harter and Casey Angellotti had two hits apiece. Pitcher Karlee Fisher tossed a five-hitter, struck out two and walked two for her seventh win.
Lucas won a Class A state title coaching Penns Valley in 2002 and was inducted into the District 6 Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006. After the Ridge game, he posed with a 400-win banner and the team.
“I guess looking back I was blessed to have literally hundreds of athletes, assistant coaches and obviously family members who supported me that made me a better person and coach,” Lucas said of his milestone win.
“My oldest daughter Kiley played on my first varsity win and daughter Kari on the state championship team (at Penns Valley). The game has changed over the years and again I feel very blessed to be able to part of it.”
BEA (7-3) was losing 4-3 against Clearfield when Maelee Yoder singled home Addie Burns in the top of the seventh. After Gavlock was intentionally walked, Repasky’s RBI single gave BEA the lead. Harter gave BEA some breathing room with a two-run single.
STATE COLLEGE
State College had a rough start under interim coach Vanessa Gordon, a former assistant coach who took over after the sudden departure of coach Scott Kaminske for undisclosed reasons, but the Lady Little Lions rebounded well.
State College lost to Central Dauphin, 15-0, at home on April 14 in the first game under Gordon, but the Lady Little Lions won 13-1 at Altoona on April 16 and got by Bellefonte, 1-0, at the O’Leary Tournament in Bellefonte on April 18. State College’s 8-1 win at Mifflin County was its third win in a row.
Bellefonte and State College were scoreless until the top of the sixth inning of a pitching duel between Herr and State College’s Paige Moriarta.
Kendall Schenck’s double in the top of the sixth scored Sarah Mellott to give State College the lead.
That’s all Moriarta needed. She finished with a two-hitter, struck out 15 and walked two. Herr also tossed a two-hitter, struck out a whopping 19 batters and walked one.
Moriarta tossed a one-hitter, struck out 14 and walked three against Altoona.
She got plenty of offensive support from Schenck, who had homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs, and Kara Rhinehart, who homered and had three RBIs.
Gabby Harpster tossed a three-hitter, struck out 12 and walked four against Mifflin County. Schenck, Lily Williams and Moriarta had two hits each for State College (6-3), and Schenck had two RBIs.
BELLEFONTE
In addition to the losses to State College and P-O, Bellefonte won, 1-0, at Huntingdon on April 15 and lost to DuBois, 5-3, in the Lady Red Raiders’ second game of the O’Leary Tournament.
The Lady Red Raiders (5-7) then won at Penns Valley, 6-1, on April 20 thanks to Abby Herr’s two-hitter and Ella Herr’s three hits, including a double. Abby Herr struck out 10, walked two and gave up an unearned run. She also had two RBIs. Masullo had two hits, including a triple.
Bellefonte and Huntingdon were scoreless going into the fourth in a pitching duel between Herr and Alivia Nicklow. Ella Herr scored Masullo with a single to right field in the fourth.
That was enough for Abby Herr, who tossed a two-hitter, struck out five and walked none. Masullo had two of her team’s five hits off of Nicklow.
“The run was extremely big for us to take advantage of the opportunity given,” Bellefonte coach Erica DeVinney said, “and get a one-run lead against Huntingdon. Abby Herr pitched great. She has been working really hard and she threw a really nice game.”
The Lady Red Raiders had a 3-1 lead over DuBois until the Beavers scored four in the fourth inning against Masullo. Sloan Moore had three hit from the leadoff spot, including a double. Peyton Rimmey had two doubles and two RBIs.
PENNS VALLEY
Penns Valley won its first game against Richland, 8-4, on April 15 at home, but the Lady Rams lost at Mount Union, 15-5, the next day.
PV’s Sydnie Dalton went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored, while Breanne Lucas had three hits. Taylor Homan had a bases-clearing triple and four RBIs. Aubree Klobucar delivered two hits and two RBIs.
Pitcher Lily Gephart tossed a five-hitter and struck out six for the Lady Rams.
WEEK OF APRIL 23 SOFTBALL SCHEDULE
April 23
Clearfield at Philipsburg-Osceola
April 24
Bedford at Bald Eagle Area
Richland at Philipsburg-Osceola
