Hazleton ends Spring-Ford’s run in state semifinals

ALLENTOWN >> Throughout their 26-1 start to the 2019 season, from the top down Spring-Ford’s softball team pointed to its unity and closeness as the main ingredient to their success. 

So it was only fitting that in the wake of a 4-1 season-ending loss to Hazleton in Tuesday’s state semifinals, senior left fielder Bridget Sharkey was surrounded by her four fellow senior teammates as she talked after the game. 

“Losing is never fun, and today sucks,” she said. “But the bonding, and the friendships are something I’m going to remember for a while.”

Hazleton (23-1), the District 2 champion, returns to the 6A state championship game at Penn State University for the second time in three years, where they’ll meet Central Dauphin, the District 3 champions who prevailed over three-time defending champions Hempfield Tuesday, 4-1.

The Cougars dropped the 2017 championship to Hempfield after similarly topping Spring-Ford in the state semifinals.

Season-ending losses are always tough to swallow, but Spring-Ford had extra reason to wonder what might’ve been as Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year Bri Peck, a sophomore, missed Tuesday’s contest due to a one-game suspension over a violation of team rules—playing for her club team over the weekend. Freshman Jules Scogna performed admirably in the circle under the bright lights of the state semifinals, but there was no question that Peck’s big bat (.474 average, 12 HR, 35 RBI) could have come in handy in a couple spots for Spring-Ford on Tuesday.

Hazleton shortstop and Michigan State commit Marissa Trivelpiece started things off for the Cougars in the first with a shot that  cleared the left-center field fence to give Hazleton a 2-0 advantage. She continued to stand out in the top of the second, making a pair of sparkling plays on balls hit by SF’s Maddie Walsh and Julia Heine.

Scogna settled in, pitching out of trouble in the third when Bridget Sharkey made a running catch to keep the score at 2-0. Meanwhile, the Rams were facing a masterpiece in pitching to contact from Hazleton’s Aleah Kost, who didn’t allow a hit until Ashley Della Guardia’s two-out single over shortstop in the 4th.

Hazleton would double the lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of that inning, as Julia Mrochko’s triple landed just inside the right field line to plate Kaitlynn Peters and Kyra Antolick, who’d each singled. Scogna pitched out of further damage, but Hazleton RF Caitlyn Katchur made the play of the day to start the 5th inning when she robbed Heine of extra bases with a diving grab in right center.

In the top of the 6th, it was Trivelpiece thwarting another SF attempt to rally when she turned a 6-4-3 double play to retire the side. 

Della Guardia provided the Rams’ only run with a leadoff solo shot in the top of the 7th, Heine and Sharkey added singles to bring the tying run to the plate, but another standout defensive play and a routine ground ball sent Hazleton onto their second state title game in three years.

“I don’t know what got into our defense, but it’s phenomenal,” said Trivelpiece. “Diving catches in the outfield, backhand stops on ground balls—I hope we can keep it going, it’s outstanding.”

In all, Kost scattered six hits and two walks over seven innings, with only Della Guardia’s home run to show for it on the scoreboard. Most remarkably, Kost got the complete-game win without registering a single strikeout. 

Spring-Ford Coach Tim Hughes gave the junior righty credit for keeping his hitters off balance.

“Maybe we weren’t expecting the change in velocity (from Kost), but she pitched well,” he said. “Their big hits came with people on base—ours didn’t. We needed to put up more runs today.”

For Spring-Ford, one of the signature campaigns in program history comes to an end at a record of 26-2. 2019 marked the Rams’ second appearance in states in the past three years, and their fifth trip since 2009. 

Coach Tim Hughes’ charges ran roughshod over the Pioneer Athletic Conference for a second straight year, not dropping a single game until the district semifinals when the No. 1-seeded Rams fell to Downingtown West, 4-3. (Hazleton eliminated Downingtown West in last week’s PIAA quarterfinals.) 

The Rams topped District 12 champions St. Hubert’s and Parkland, the District 11 standard bearers, en route to Tuesday’s showdown with Hazleton. 

“26 wins is the most in Spring-Ford softball history—they’ve left one heck of a legacy,” said Hughes. “I know they’re extremely salty over not making the championship game, but they’re such a fantastic group. Great kids, great parents on this team who are nothing but supportive of us as coaches and the program as a whole.”

By the time the Rams reached the state semifinals, there were multiple changes around the field. Even aside from Peck’s absence, Heine moved behind the plate in place of the injured Maddy Cortino, opening up a spot at second base for a fellow senior, the sure-handed Logan Bonewitz who fielded over a dozen chances in the state playoffs with nary a miscue.

“We work hard all year so we’re ready when our number is called,” Heine said.

“I felt ready the whole time—as Julia said, we practice, we prepare,” added Bonewitz. “When the team needed me, I didn’t hesitate, I was ready to go.”

Madison Little patrolled the outfield for Spring-Ford over the past four years as a self-taught left-handed slap hitter who provided needed speed in a lineup rich with power. She was one of several holdovers from the 2017 squad that made it to the same point in the PIAA tournament.

“We were so close off the field, and so close on the field (to the state title),” she said. “It’s hard today, but we know what we accomplished and that allows us to keep our heads up.”

Even after being perplexed by Kost for six innings Tuesday, the Rams did indeed keep their heads up, as Della Guardia’s home run ignited a rally that might’ve been enough if not for Hazleton’s final web gem of the day, a backhanded stop by Tiana Treon to rob Scogna of potential extra bases.

“I have so much confidence in this team, and I absolutely thought we could pull through,” said Jules Hughes, Spring-Ford’s third baseman and cleanup hitter who played her final game Tuesday. “It just didn’t quite happen today.”

With that, the five seniors turned and walked back to the dugout one last time—together.