INDIANA — The State College 12U softball team came out of the District 5 West tournament with a solid 10-3 victory over Philipsburg-Osceola and headed to the Little League Softball sectional tournament, held in Indiana, PA, on Wednesday, July 3, and Friday, July 5.
With two wins and a loss in its first three games, State College played itself into the tournament finals and a chance to advance to the Pennsylvania state LL softball tournament.
But first the team had to get past highly ranked Indiana LL at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 5, in the first final.
That game, unfortunately, saw Indiana score 10 runs in the fourth and fifth innings and pull away for a 13-1 win and the sectional championship trophy.
Playing in their second game of the night, the SC 12Us played Indiana solid for the first three innings — the score was 3-1 heading into the fourth — but they could not put a stop to a six-run Indiana rally in the fourth.
Milana Lowe and Calysta Steffie collected hits for SC, and Ellie Horner knocked in the team’s only run, as the 12Us took second place in the tournament with two earlier wins.
Those wins, both against Mifflin, came on Wednesday, July 3, by a score of 10-5 and then on Friday, July 5, in the first game again, by a score of 9-1.
In the Wednesday game, SC scored seven runs in the top of the first inning and then held off Mifflin for a tense, 10-5 victory.
On the mound, Steffie threw a complete-game six-hitter with four runs and seven strikeouts.
Lowe, Abby Szymanski, and Ali Savereno each drove in two runs, and Brooklyn Reed and Steffie each had extra-base hits.
The game was the first of the night for SC, and it was followed with a loss to ICM that put the 12Us down into the lower bracket.
On Friday, the same double-header occurred. SC took on Mifflin in the 6 p.m. game, with IMC waiting to take on the winner at 8 p.m.
State College did not break out of the starting gate very fast in this one, but it piled on seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings in a 9-1 victory over Mifflin.
Steffie took the win again with a complete-game four-hitter, while the team knocked out nine hits.
Szymanski had two, with two RBIs, and Steffie had another extra-base hit.
The win put SC against Indiana again, this time in the championship round, but Indiana was too rested and their bats were too strong for SC to keep up.
Nevertheless, a solid record, with a District 5 championship and a second-place finish in the Pennsylvania LL sectional tournament, can’t be considered a poor outcome.
