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CLAYSBURG -- Claysburg-Kimmel had a hitting session on Sunday in preparation for its playoff game against Bishop McCort.
The extra work paid off as the Lady Bulldogs jumped all over Lady Crusher starter Belle Toth from the start.
The third-seeded Bulldogs scored in all but the fourth inning of a 10-0 mercy rule victory in the quarterfinals of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs on Monday afternoon.
"I just told them before the game that we have to come out ready to play," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Barbarini said. "We practiced hard on slower pitching, and she (Toth) was in the zone and perfect speed, and we just took advantage of that today."
Claysburg, which moves to 18-3 and advances to play Glendale on Thursday, broke loose with four runs on four hits in the opening frame.
C-K tacked another run on in the second, two in the third and the final three in the fifth.
Winning pitcher Emalee Cavender more than helped herself out at the plate as she roped three extra base hits, was intentionally walked once and came around to score three times.
Four other Claysburg-Kimmel players came through with two hits apiece as Bella Francona, McKenzi Black, McKenna Black and Jaylee Swindell helped the home team pound out 14 hits -- half of which went for extra bases.
"They (Claysburg-Kimmel) got the bats rolling. We knew they were a good hitting team," Bishop McCort coach Garett Marion said. "They just jumped out early ... we knew we had an uphill battle coming in and we were right."
Cavender led off with a triple then scored on Francona's single.
Jenna Helsel, who walked in the number two spot, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and crossed the plate on McKenzi Black's double to left-center that also scored Francona.
McKenna Black delivered a ground-rule double that bounced off the turf and hit the scoreboard to score McKenzi to put Claysburg up 4-0.
"We hit the ball very well," Cavender said. "It's kind of nice, as a pitcher, to have runs on the board that way, it takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders."
Cavender doubled in the second and scored on Nevaeh Walter's ground rule double with two outs.
The Lady Bulldogs got two more in the third as McKenna Black doubled and came home on Swindell's single.
Swindell, who advanced to third on the throw home that tried to put out McKenna Black, was pushed home by Zakera Bush's single to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
After a scoreless fourth where Toth only needed 11 pitches to shut down Claysburg, the Lady Bulldogs closed out the win in the fifth as Swindell singled, stole second, moved to third on a deep fly out to left and then scored when Payton Hinish reached on an error by McCort left fielder Halle Bair.
Cavender was intentionally walked before Jenna Helsel ended the game with a single that scored Launa Musselman, who was running for Hinish, and Cavender, who crossed on a wide throw to the plate from centerfielder Kaline Bailey.
While the Claysburg bats were erupting, Cavender was doing her part inside the circle to mix her speeds and locations to hold the Lady Crushers' to just three hits, while striking out 10 and awarding no free passes.
"With never having faced those hitters before, I thought she did a really good job with it," Barbarini said. "Her change-up and her drop-ball keeping them off-balance."
Bria Bair doubled in the first, Bailey singled to right center in the fourth and Toth started the fifth with a single to center before Cavender struck out the next three.
"I feel confident throwing to each batter because I know I have a good defense behind me," Cavender said.
The Lady Crushers finished off a 9-11 season.
"For us, it was a very successful season, Coach Marion said. "We've been in rebuilding progress. Two years ago, we had one win and last year we had three. This year we had nine wins, so it's a step-by-step process and we have a nice core coming back."
BISHOP MCCORT (0): Marion ss 200, Kal. Bailey cf 201, B. Barr dp 201, Bainey flex-cr 000, Ricketts c 200, Kar. Bailey 3b 200, Toth p 201, Stiles 1b 200, R. Bair 2b 200, H. Bair lf 200. Totals -- 18 0 3.
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (10): Cavender p 333, J. Helsel cf 311, Walter c 301, C. Helsel cr 000, Francona 2b 312, McKenzi Black 3b 312, Diehl cr 000, McKenna Black lf 312, Swindell ss 322, Bush 1b 301, Musselman dp-cr 210, Hinish ph 000, Lehman rf-flex 000. Totals -- 26 10 14.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Bishop McCort 000 00X X-- 0 3 3
C-K 412 03X X--10 14 0
E--Kal. Bailey 2, H. Bair. 2B--B. Barr, Cavender 2, McKenna Black 2, Walter, McKenzi Black. 3B--Cavender. HR--none. RBI--McKenzi Black 2, J. Helsel, Walter, Francona, McKenna Black, Swindell, Bush. SB--J. Helsel, Swindell. CS--none. WP--Cavender. PB--Ricketts 2.
PITCHING
Bishop McCort: Toth (L) --4• innings, 14 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 10 R, 9 ER, 70 pitches.
Claysburg-Kimmel: Cavender (W) -- 5 innings, 3 H, 10 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER, 91 pitches.
Records: Bishop McCort (9-11); Claysburg-Kimmel (18-3).