WILLIAMSPORT - The offense that served Line Mountain so well in District 4 Class A playoff victories over Galeton and Cowanesque Valley never showed up in Wednesday's semifinal matchup with Bloomsburg at Elm Park.
The Eagles, who had 11 hits in an 8-7 opening round victory over Galeton, then followed with 17 in a 10-7 come-from-behind quarterfinal win over Cowanesque, managed only two Wednesday afternoon in a 6-1 setback to the Panthers.
"I was waiting for the spark,"
Line Mountain coach Jordan Toraschuk said. But we just didn't get good swings at good pitches very often.
"And when we did swing at a good pitch, we hit a little dribbler."
Bloomsburg pitcher Emily Wawroski, not overpowering but always around the plate, had the Eagles' number. She allowed only the two hits - Joelle Snyder's long triple to the left-center gap and Kiana Lukoskie's infield single - and, more impressively, three baserunners. She struck out six and didn't issue a free pass.
Wawroski worked the first three innings in perfect fashion, allowed both Line Mountain hits in the fourth, then was perfect again in the fifth and sixth before Snyder reached on an error and eventually scored the Eagles' only run in the bottom of the seventh.
Bloomsburg built its lead in the early going. The Panthers got one in the first, courtesy of Wawroski's RBI single up the middle. They added two in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to run the lead to 6-0 while the Line Mountain offense continued to struggle.
Myah King, working in relief of starter Madeline Reed, allowed only one run while working the final four innings for Line Mountain.
Still, the future looks bright for the Eagles. They graduate only two starters after winning district playoff games for what is believed to be the first time in school history.
"I've talked to a lot of different people and nobody seems to know for sure (if Line Mountain ever won a playoff game)," Taraschuk said. "I couldn't be more proud of these girls.
"The got two playoff wins and made it to the semifinals."