BRADFORD, Pa. – Northern Potter has gone from fielding its first softball team since 2019 to the District 9 championship game in a matter of months.
Behind 14 strikes from standout freshman Jaylyn Williammee, the No. 3 Lady Panthers outlasted No. 2 Elk County Catholic 3-2 in nine innings in the D9 Class 1A semifinals to punch their ticket to the D9 final against DuBois Central Catholic (a 5-0 winner over Redbank Valley).
Rewatch the game:
“I think I pitched really good,” Williammee, the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game, said. “This feels really good. We’re excited to go on.”
See Williammee’s Cole Orthodontic Associates Postgame Interview:
Going to the ninth inning tied at 2-2, Northern Potter’s Taylor Knowles led off with a single, the third time she had reached base in the game (walk, fielder’s choice). On three straight pitches, a combination of passed balls and wild pitches allowed Knowles to come all the way around the bases and score, making it 3-2.
Elk County Catholic pitcher Emily Mourer retired the next three batters in order to send the game to the bottom of the ninth, where Williammee saved her best for last.
Williammee struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, the last two the swinging variety, to secure the win for the Lady Panthers.
The game started 15 minutes late because lightning forced a 30-minute delay during warmups, and with the game scoreless with two outs in the top of the fourth, thunder forced another stoppage.
After the stoppage, Mackenzie Billie delivered a two-run single in the fourth to give ECC (14-6) a 2-0 lead.
That was all the Lady Crusaders got off Williammee, however, and the Lady Panthers (17-4) had the answer in the top of the fifth.
An extended at-bat from Haylee Chapman resulted in a one-out single, and, after Mourer got a strikeout, Slawson ripped a double to get Northern Potter on the board and make it 2-1.
Slawson came around to score on a passed ball, tying the game at 2-2.
Billie hit a single with two outs in the sixth, but Kayla Hyde’s throw from right field got Billie at second as she was trying to stretch a single into a double.
In the top of the seventh, Haylee Chapman reached on a fielder’s choice and Myah Kibbe drew a walk in an 11-pitch at-bat with two outs to bring up Slawson who flew out to end the inning.
ECC also threatened in the bottom of the seventh. Bauer singled and made it to third on sac bunt and a flyout, but Williammee was able to strike out Syd Alexander to send the game to extras.
In the eighth, Taylor Knowles fielded a ground ball, tagged out Chamberlin and threw onto first for a double play to send the game to the ninth.
Williammee allowed nine hits and walked one.
Mourer allowed four hits, struck out nine, and walked there. All three of her runs were unearned.
The championship game is set for 3 p.m. on Monday, May 27, at Heindl Field in DuBois.
ECC will host Redbank Valley in the consolation game also on Monday at Benzinger Park in St. Marys. The start time has yet to be announced.
The winner of the consolation game could end up playing a true second game if it didn’t play the loser of the championship game in the semifinals.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 5, REDBANK VALLEY 0
BROCKWAY, Pa. – You can’t spell Kulbatsky without the Ks.
Rylee Kulbatsky racked up 16 more strikeouts while tossing a three-hit shutout to lead top-seeded DuBois Central Catholic back to the District 9 Class 1A title game for the fifth straight season with a 5-0 win over fifth-seeded Redbank Valley in the semifinals at Brockway High School.
The 16 strikeouts are the second-most in a game in the sophomore’s career behind the 18 punchouts she had on May 15 against St. Marys. It also marked the 11th time she has punched out at least 10 batters in a game this season and it gives her 191 strikeouts in 91 innings of work, an average of 2.1 per inning.
“It’s a lot of fun (playing behind her),” senior third baseman Melia Mistskavich, who was the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Playe of the Game, said on the Cole Orthodontic Associates Postgame Interview. “She is amazing. She is a great pitcher.”
Mitskavich has been pretty amazing herself this season.
The senior, who came into the game hitting .500 was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. She got things started for the Lady Cardinals with a leadoff single in the second and scored the only run DCC needed on an RBI groundout by Lily Davidson later in the inning.
Melia Mitskavich had two hits and two runs scored for DCC and was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game. Photo by Chris Rossetti
Mitskavich is now 9 of 17 (.529) since May 6 while scoring 13 runs. To understand how important that is, DCC (18-2) has allowed just 14 runs ALL SEASON and only three since May 1.
“I do (feel really locked in right now),” Mitskavich said.
Watch Mistkavich’s full interview
Just minutes after Mitskavich scored, the game went into an hour-plus weather delay in the top of the third.
When play resumed just before 4:30 p.m., Kulbatsky, who had struck out the side in the second, struck out the side again in the third, and her team added two more runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 3-0.
Kulbatsky’s strikeout streak reached seven in a row to start the fourth before Bella Orr popped up for the first Redbank Valley (10-10) ball put in play since the first inning.
Quinn White followed with a single to center ending a hitless streak of 14 consecutive innings by Kulbatsky dating back to two outs in the top of the second against Moniteau on May 13. She retired the final nine Lady Warriors that day before retiring the first 20 St. Marys batters on May 15 before issuing a two-out walk and then getting a strikeout. She then retired the first 11 batters on Wednesday meaning she had retired 41 of 42 before the White singles.
That streak actually grew to 46 of 48 before Alara Altobelli’s single with one out in the sixth.
Makenzie Foringer then followed with a single marking the first time Kulbatsky has given up back-to-back hits since the seventh inning on April 10 against Elk County Catholic when the Lady Crusaders had back-to-back singles before she struck out the final two she faced, a span of 65 ⅔ innings pitches between giving up back-to-back hits.
Watch the first two innings before the rain delay
Watch the final five innings after the rain delay
Lydia Morgan added an RBI double for DCC going 1-for-3, and Marina Hanes was 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Foringer pitched well in the loss going six innings allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out three. In the process, Foringer set Redbank Valley’s single-season strikeout mark with 130. The previous record was 128 set by Amber Boyles in 2005.
Both teams will play on Monday, May 27.
DCC will face Northern Potter in the D9 title game at 3 p.m. at Heindl Field in DuBois.
Redbank Valley will meet ECC in the consolation game at Benzinger Park in St. Marys at a time to be announced.
The winner of the consolation game could end up playing a true second game if it didn’t play the loser of the championship game in the semifinals.
CURWENSVILLE 12, KARNS CITY 11
DUBOIS, Pa. – With the game-tying run at second base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Lyrick Reed lined out to second baseman Addison Warren, as Curwensville held off Karns City, 12-11, in a wild District 9 Class 2A semifinal game at Heindl Field in DuBois.
Third-seeded Curwensville (16-5) held lead of 7-1, 11-6, and 12-7 in the game with the last five-run lead being what the score was going to the bottom of the seventh.
But second-seeded Karns City (11-6) kept battling all day long.
A five-run fifth got the Lady Gremlins within a run, 7-6, before Curwensville scored four in the sixth and one in the seventh while KC had one in the sixth to make the score 12-7 going to the bottom of the seventh.
But four singles and three errors got Karns City within a run, as Nicole Huff scored the 10th run on a throwing error by catcher Addison Butler and Ava Fox followed with a bunt single and then went to second on an error before Addison Siple got Reed to lineout to close out the game.
Siple got the win going seven innings allowing 11 runs, eight earned, on 14 hits and two walks. She struck out eight.
But it was Siple’s bat that did the talking.
The sophomore was 4-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs, and four runs scored.
Natalie Wischuck added a 3-for-4 day with three doubles, a walk, two runs scored, and four RBIs for the Lady Tide while Butler, Addison Warren, Ava Hainsey, Sydney Simcox, and Briah Peoples each had two hits.
Butler was 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored, Warren was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, Hainsey was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs, Simcox was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Peoples was 2-for-4.
Nicole Taylor went 3-for-4 with a triple, a runs scored, and an RBI for Karns City while Reed was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and three RBIs.
Ronni Radaker also went 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored with Addison Burrows going 2-for-4 with a triple, a run scored, and an RBI.
Burrows took the loss going seven innings allowing 12 runs, 10 earned, on 19 hits and two walks.
Curwensville will face the winner of Thursday’s Moniteau/Cranberry game in the D9 title game at 11 a.m. Monday, May 27, at Heindl Field while Karns City will play the loser in the consolation game Monday. That game will either be at Karns City if Moniteau loses or at Cranberry if Cranberry loses.
The winner of the consolation game could end up playing a true second game if it didn’t play the loser of the championship game in the semifinals.
