WILLIAMSPORT - For the second straight day, Shamokin Area battled a team that had beaten the Indians twice handily during the regular season tooth and nail. But this time, with the District 4 Class AAA championship on the line, the underdog Indians came up just short.
Mifflinburg held off a seventh-inning rally to defeat the Indians, 3-2, at Elm Park in a game that came down to little things, like balls bouncing off fielders' gloves, and sacrifices. The Wildcats (17-5) advanced to the state tournament and will play Berwick in District 2 next week. The Indians finished their season 11-10.
"It was a very good high school softball game," said Shamokin coach Rick Kashner. "They had a couple more hits that dropped in than we did. They made some defensive plays on us and we made some on them."
"I wasn't expecting this type of pitchers' duel," said Mifflinburg coach Steve Ross, who won his first district title in his fourth
attempt. "I thought there would be a few more runs scored. Shamokin is a dangerous team with their offense."
The teams actually combined for 22 hits but had trouble scoring because the defenses kept coming up with big plays. Mifflinburg took a 1-0 lead in the second inning but Shamokin shortstop Helana Supsic turned an unassisted double play to end the inning, catching a liner off the bat of McKenzie Noll and beating runner Emily Stauffer back to second. Kylie Kuhns' single had scored Margaret Wiand, who led the inning off with a double. Mifflinburg turned a double play of its own in the top of the inning.
Shamokin had runners on base in every inning except the first against Mifflinburg pitcher Hannah Boop, but kept hitting into hard outs. Jenny Hornberger lined out to left field with a runner on in the third, and Brie Bonshock and Olivia Bonshock both lined out hard in the fourth.
Then came the fifth and sixth innings. The Indians left the bases loaded without scoring in both innings. Mifflinburg pulled another double play in the fifth, Olivia Bonshock opened the sixth with a hard liner to third baseman Mackenzie Kyler, but the ball bounced off her glove right to shortstop Kayla Kline, who threw Bonshock out. The Indians then worked a pair of walks and a single by Kelsey Forbes before Kortni Chapman grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
Wiand singled to lead off Mifflinburg's fourth and eventually scored again, this time on a single by Stauffer, who went 3-for-3 batting out of the ninth spot in the lineup.
The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the sixth with a two-out double by Noll, which scored Kline, who had singled.
But this wasn't the same Shamokin team that Mifflinburg beat 12-0 and 8-3 in the regular season. Boop's late-inning wildness (four walks in the fifth and sixth innings) turned the order over for the Indians.
"I told the girls we could have ended it in the sixth but I didn't want to see the top of their order come up in the seventh, which is what happened," Ross said.
Hornberger was hit by a pitch and advanced on a wild pitch, and after Brie Bonshock lined out hard to left field, Supsic singled her home. Olivia Bonshock followed with single and Natalie Wolfe flew out to center. Forbes singled hom Supsic but Catherine Augustitus grounded out to third to end the game.
"During the year, our kids might have put their heads down (after leaving the bases loaded)," Kashner said. "But in these games up here, they battled all the way. I can't ask for anything more from these girls. I can't complain about the way we hit the ball," Kashner said. "Their outfield made some good plays on us."
For the second straight game, Nash was around the plate for the Indians. Despite giving up 13 hits, she didn't walk a batter, and Ross cited her improvement.
"In our first game, we 10-runned them and I think she was a little shell shocked," he said. "She really pitched well today."
"I can't say enough about these seniors," Kashner said. "They're all good girls and I'm sorry I only had one year with them. I think we're there now (with Milton, Mifflinburg and Jersey Shore). I think these games were important for the girls in there (underclassmen in the dugout). They'll give us something to build on and we have a good junior high group coming up."
SHAMOKIN (AB-R-H-BI): Hornberger 2-1-0-0, B. Bonshock 4-0-1-0, Supsic 4-1-2-1, O. Bonshock 4-0-2-0, Wolfe 2-0-0-0, Forbes 4-0-2-1, Faus 0-0-0-0, C. Augustitus 3-0-1-0, Rodarmel 2-0-0-0, Chapman 3-0-1-0, Nash 0-0-0-0. Totals 28-2-9-2.
MIFFLINBURG (AB-R-H-BI): Kline 4-1-2-0, Noll 4-0-2-1, S. Stauffer 4-0-1-0, Ma. Kyler 3-0-2-0, Davis 2-0-0-0, Wiand 3-2-2-0, Mo. Kyler 1-0-0-0, Kuhns 3-0-1-1, E. Stauffer 3-0-3-1, Boop 0-0-0-0. Totals 27-3-13-2.