Lady Vikes cap rally with walk-off double
PIAA 1A softball
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WILLIAMSPORT -- The Glendale softball team has patented comeback efforts all season long.
The Lady Vikings fashioned their latest one Thursday afternoon, and it has put them into previously uncharted waters in the PIAA Class 1A state tournament.
Glendale overcame a 4-0 deficit by rallying for three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and scoring two runs in the seventh, to score a 5-4 victory over Old Forge in a PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal game on Williamsport's Elm Park softball field.
Freshman pitcher Madison Peterson's two-run, walkoff double down the left field line in the seventh capped off Glendale's rally and put the Lady Vikings into the semifinal round of the PIAA state tournament for the first time in school history.
Glendale (18-2) will face District 4 champion Montgomery -- a 13-1, six-inning mercy-rule winner over Faith Christian in another quarterfinal-round game Thursday -- in a semifinal-round matchup Monday at a site and time to be determined.
"This is incredible,'' first-year Glendale coach Bruce Vereshack said. "I'm so happy for these girls. They can never be counted out in any game. I don't know what to say. This is the biggest win in school history.''
Junior shortstop Riley Best went for 4-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, two singles, two runs scored, and an RBI for Glendale.
Best had an RBI single in Glendale's three-run fifth inning, then poked a key double to trigger the Lady Vikings' game-winning two-run rally in the seventh.
"We have been down so many times in so many games this year, and we have almost always come back,'' Best said. "We wanted this so bad. We've never been here before as a program. We've never made it past the Elite Eight round.
"This is definitely a great opportunity for us.''
It was an opportunity, though, that seemed improbable midway through the game, when District 2 champion Old Forge (12-11) was holding a 4-0 lead behind the strong pitching of sophomore right-hander Karen Sickle, who struck out 10 batters in the game.
"We were looking at a lot of called third strikes, and you can't win a game like that,'' Vereshack said.
Glendale found new life in the fifth inning, scoring three runs after its first two batters in the inning were retired.
Sophomore catcher Caitlyn Rydbom tripled to left field and scored on Best's single to left. Sophomore second baseman Kaprice Cavalet singled to right-center, and both Rydbom and Cavalet moved up a base to third and second, respectively, on the throw from the outfield.
Peterson followed by smashing a triple just inside the third-base bag down the left field line, scoring both Rydbom and Cavalet and pulling Glendale to within 4-3.
Old Forge held on to that margin until the seventh, when leadoff hitter Rydbom reached on an error. Best followed by lining a double to right-center, moving Rydbom to third.
After Cavalet was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force play at any base with nobody out, Peterson worked a full count against Sickel and fouled off several pitches before lofting a fly ball deep down the left field line that fell in fair territory for a double near the outfield fence, scoring both Ariann Richards -- who was inserted as a courtesy runner for Rydbom -- and Best to give Glendale its breath-taking victory.
"I was under a lot of pressure and I really wanted to string a hit out,'' said Peterson, a star right-handed pitcher who along with driving in four runs, tossed a complete-game victory while spacing seven hits, striking out five batters, and walking just two. "It feels great to get the winning hit.
"This is the farthest that any softball program in our school's history has made it in the state tournament,'' Peterson said. "To be the first team at our school to reach the semifinals is awesome.''
Old Forge took a 4-0 lead with a run in the first inning and three in the second. The Lady Blue Devils bunched six hits over the first two innings, but Peterson limited Old Forge to just one hit over the final five innings.
"We took our feet off the pedal after the second inning, and we didn't hit,'' Old Forge coach Pat Revello said. "We knew that four runs were not going to be enough to win this game.
"Hats off to the Glendale team,'' Revello added. "They're a great group of girls who never gave up today. They have a great program.''
A program that has now gone deeper into the PIAA softball tournament than any other at its school, thanks to Thursday's great comeback.
"We've done that all year,'' Vereshack said of the rally. "I always tell the girls that even if we're behind, we're going to break through. It just takes one girl to spark us.''
OLD FORGE (4): Piragas c 412, Musgrave 1b 200, Liskosky cf 300, Murray ss 302, Marianelli 3b 300, Olivieri lf 311, DiStasi dh 311, Barbuti rf 311, Sickle p 100, Granko ph 100, Pritchyk cr 000, Aversa 2b flex 000. Totals -- 26-4-7.
GLENDALE (5): Best ss 424, Kaprice Cavalet 2b 311, Peterson p 402, Buterbaugh 3b 300, Taylor rf 300, Kasaback cf 300, Williams 1b 301, McNitt cr 000, Koltyn Cavalet dh 300, Rydbom c 312, A. Richards cr 010, C. Richards lf flex 000. Totals -- 29-5-10.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Old Forge 130 000 0 -- 4 7 1
Glendale 000 030 2 -- 5 10 0
2B--Murray, DiStasi, Best 2, Peterson, Rydbom. 3B--Rydbom. RBI--Peterson 4, Best, Piragas, Murray, DiStasi, Barbuti. SB--Olivieri, Barbuti, Piragas, Musgrave, Best. SAC--Musgrave. LOB--Glendale 7, Old Forge 4.
PITCHING
Old Forge: Sickle (L)--6.2IP, 10H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB, 10 SO.
Glendale: Peterson (W)--7IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 5SO.
Umpires: Matt West (plate); Kristen Decker (first base); Craig West (second base); Doug Reeves (third base).
Records: Old Forge (12-11); Glendale (18-2).