MOUNT CARMEL - Hard luck losses happen all the time in sports. If you play, coach, or watch enough games, you are bound to see your fair share of them.
If you were on the campus of Mount Carmel Area High School Monday to see the Lourdes Red Raiders and the Pine Grove Area Cardinals, you would have seen as tough a loss as there is in sports. Pine Grove battled its way to a 4-2 nine inning victory over Lourdes (8-5) in a Schuylkill League Division I match-up.
The game was an old-fashioned pitchers duel between CharLee Rosini of Lourdes and Ethel Santai of Pine Grove. Scoring chances were few and far between for both teams.
That is, until the ninth inning.
Brittanie Whitman led things off for Pine Grove with a walk. She was replaced by flex player Alyssa Hatter. Hayley Wolfe attempted a sacrifice bunt but Lourdes couldn't get anyone out, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
That's when things really got interesting.
Hatter attempted to steal third and was apparently thrown out by catcher Nikki Komara. She was initially called out but the ball squirted loose. The call was overturned by the home plate umpire and Hatter remained on third. After a strikeout, Keandra Koons singled in Hatter for the go-ahead run. Santai then singled in Samantha Bertasavage, who bunted her way on, and Koons to give Pine Grove a 4-1 lead.
But Lourdes didn't quit. Rosini tripled to deep right center field and scored the game's final run on Komara's groundout to second base in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Lourdes took the lead in the third inning when Peyton Klembara scored on a fly ball to right field by Jocelyn Darrup that was misplayed by the Pine Grove outfielder. Pine Grove tied the game in the fifth when Koons singled and scored with two outs after some shaky infield play by Lourdes.
"I'm proud of the way the girls played and proud of the way we battled back after giving up three runs in the ninth. We didn't quit," said Lourdes coach Scott Long.
This was the second close loss for Lourdes this season to Pine Grove, which improved its record to 15-1 and has one of the best pitchers in the area in Santai, who recorded 14 strikeouts in nine innings.
"3-2 and 4-2 in extras against a very good team is a good showing," said Long. "We hit the ball better this time against her (Santai) but the hits just didn't fall in when we needed them."
Still, Lourdes is in good position to qualify for District 4 playoffs with an 8-5 record and could potentially be a tough out after playing many quality opponents in Division I of the Schuylkill League.
"I'm thrilled where we sit now," said Long. "Even though we lost, the girls played another very good game."
Lourdes returns to action today at home against Manahoy Area.
Game Summary
PINE GROVE (AB-R-H-BI) - Koons 4-2-2-1, Bertasavage 3-1-1-0, Kemmerling 5-0-0-0, Santai 3-0-1-2, Brown 5-0-1-0, Lengel 3-0-2-0, Whitman 3-0-0-0, Andrushick 0-0-0-0, Wolfe, 3-0-0-0, Shade 0-0-0-0, Stine 4-0-0-0, Hatter 0-1-0-0. Totals 33-4-7-3.
LOURDES (AB-R-H-BI) - Klembara 4-1-0-0, Darrup 4-0-0-0, Rosini 3-1-1-0, Komara 4-0-0-1, Raybuck 4-0-0-0, Long 4-0-1-0, Chapman 3-0-0-0, Frasch 3-0-0-0, Funk 3-0-1-0, Shamus 0-0-0-0. Totals 32-2-3-1.
Pine Grove 000 010 003 - 4 7 3
Lourdes 001 000 001 - 2 3 4
Extra-base hits: 3B - Rosini.
IP H R ER BB K
Pine Grove
Santai 9 3 2 1 1 14
Lourdes
Rosini 9 7 4 3 4 3