Claysburg-Kimmel captures latest district crown
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
LORETTO -- Claysburg-Kimmel provided a perfect example of timely hitting Wednesday afternoon in its 11-5 District 6 Class 1A softball championship win over top-seeded West Branch at Saint Francis University.
The third-seeded Lady Bulldogs managed just three hits, but those accounted directly for seven runs.
The biggest blow came from freshman No. 9 hitter Payton Hinish, who fell behind in the count after West Branch pitcher Makenna Moore walked the bases loaded, and fouled off a tough pitch just to stay alive. On the next pitch, she did much more than that when she launched a grand slam over the fence that made it 4-1 in the top of the second inning.
"She's just so strong of a hitter," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Barbarini said. "When she connects with the ball, it goes. They had her 0-2, and they made a mistake coming in to her, and she made them pay. I think she has about eight hits all year, and four of those are home runs. So when they miss, she makes them pay for it."
Hinish, who will not be able to participate in the state playoffs due to an injury, was just trying to put the ball in play with the bases loaded and one out, but her eyes lit up when she saw Moore's pitch.
"That was my perfect pitch, inside and low," Hinish said. "It was my pitch, and I just took it. I get surgery tomorrow on my knee. I was so happy that I had that in my last game. It's amazing to be part of this team."
Claysburg-Kimmel added a run in the third when Bella Francona worked a 10-pitch walk, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by McKenzi Black, and scored on a wild pitch.
The wildness was a theme for the Lady Warriors, who ended up combining to walk 11 batters and hit another.
"We depended on Makenna all season, and she's come through," West Branch coach Dan Betts said. "Today was just an off day. Every pitcher is going to have it. The control just wasn't there, and we compounded things with a few errors. It was walks and errors in their two big innings. They had the one big hit, but the walks were what loaded the bases to start with. I don't want to take anything away from Claysburg. They are a good team. Coach Barbarini does a great job, and they are just good. We knew this was going to be a battle. We tried to fight it, but we just came up short today."
Barbarini credited his team for taking advantage of the opportunities it was presented.
"When you look at the scoreboard, you see 11 runs on three hits," Barbarini said. "We made the best of what they gave us. They gave us walks, and when they walked us, we made them pay for it with the grand slam."
West Branch fought back into the game with the help of a two-run single by Madison Butler in the bottom of the fourth inning that made the score 5-4, but Nevaeh Walter doubled and scored along with Francona when Francona's fly ball glanced off an outfielder's glove and there was a poor throw back into the infield to restore C-K's three-run lead.
"Those runs were very big," Barbarini said. "We had chances to be ahead seven or eight if we could have scored from third with less than two outs. We didn't. I was thinking, 'oh, here we go,' but we added on, and I thought that was very big."
The Lady Bulldogs put it away with four more runs, highlighted by a Walter two-run single, in the top of the sixth inning.
Greysyn Gable, who finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs for the Lady Warriors, hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to set the final score.
Claysburg had a chance to score in the top of the first inning with winning pitcher Emalee Cavender on third when Francona drew a walk and kept running to second base, but Cavender was called out by third base umpire Brian Sonak.
"Emalee was on third, and I told our runner to just keep going," Barbarini said. "The pitcher had the ball in the circle. When the pitcher has the ball in the circle and a runner stops, she had to make a decision to either go home or to go back. Once she makes that movement, she has to go that way. If she goes the other way, she's out. When (Moore) caught the ball in the circle, Emalee hopped toward home and then tried to go back (to third). Unless the girls makes a play on her, she has to keep her momentum going home."
Claysburg-Kimmel will plat WPIAL fourth-place finisher Frazier at home on Monday in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
Hinish, McKenna Black, Alicia Musselman, Launa Musselman and Jaylee Swindell -- all freshmen -- appeared in Wednesday's game.
"These girls who are ninth graders, there's five of them, have a chance to go four years in a row, I really believe, getting district titles and moving through the state playoffs," Barbarini said. "I'm looking forward to it. It's nice for them to get one their first year up, and I know they are looking forward to trying to get four in a row."
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (11): Cavender p 400, Helsel cf 310, Walter c 412, A. Musselman cr 010, Francona 2b 120, McKenzi Black 3b 200, McKenna Black lf 210, Swindell ss 310, Bush 1b 220, Lehman rf 000, Hinish dp 311, L. Musselman pr 010. Totals -- 24-11-3.
WEST BRANCH (5): Bainey 3b 300, Ca. Wesesky 1b 210, Gable c 212, Moore p-lf 401, Ch. Wesesky pr 000, MacTavish ss-p 400, Royer 2b 411, Graham cf 311, Betts lf-rf 300, Butler rf-ss 312. Totals -- 28-5-7.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Claysburg-Kimmel 041 024 0--11 3 1
West Branch 101 200 1--5 7 4
E--Lehman, Butler 2, Gable, Moore. 2B--Walter, Royer. HR--Hinish, Gable. RBI--Hinish 4, Walter 2, McKenzi Black 1, Gable 3, Butler 2.
PITCHING
Claysburg-Kimmel: Cavender (W)--7IP, 7H, 9K, 5BB, 5R, 4ER, 143 pitches.
West Branch: Moore (L)--5IP, 2H, 8K, 7BB, 1HBP, 8R, 6ER, 113 pitches. MacTavish--2IP, 1H, 1K, 4BB, 3R, 3ER, 41 pitches.
Umpires: Gene Shields (HP); Eric Bernier (1B); Dave Murosky (2B); Brian Sonak (3B).
Records: Claysburg-Kimmel (20-3); West Branch (19-4).