DUBOIS, Pa. – St. Marys felt like it was one of the best teams in the state in 2022. This year, they’ll get a chance to prove it.
Rewatch the game:
Kendall Young struck out 11 in a complete game 5-hitter and Kara Hanslovan was 4-for-4 with a pair of hits in the Lady Dutch’s 8-1 D9 Class 4A title game win over defending PIAA champion Clearfield on Monday.
Clearfield beat St. Marys in the title game a year ago, 9-5.
“We’ve been really staying up as a team, better I think than we have in the past copule of years,” Hanslovan said. “We wanted this.”
See Hanslovan and Young’s full interview:
The Lady Dutch got things going offensively in the middle innings, breaking through for the first run of the game in the third inning and scoring three in the fourth and two in the fifth.
Gianna Surra drew a bases-loaded walk in the third for the first run, with Clearfield’s Alaina Fedder able to escape allowing just one run.
Danielle Rolley got the rally going in the fifth with a one-out bunt single, with Molly Hanslovan following with an RBI double that nearly cleared the fence and RBI singles from Olivia Eckles and Kara Hanslovan to make it 4-0.
See Hanslovan’s RBI double.
In the fifth Avery Eckles doubled, Lindsey Reiter hit a bloop double and with one out, Molly Hanslovan’s groundout brought in Eckles. Olivia Eckles and Kara Hanslovan followed with RBI singles and courtesy runner Addison Beimel scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 8-1.
After a shaky start, Young, thanks to some strong defense, settled in. Clearfield led off the game with back-to-back singles. Fedder came up and hit a ball into left field that Rolley made a diving catch on to prevent at least one run from scoring.
See Rolley’s catch:
Young allowed just three hits the rest of the game, striking out 11.
Fedder had an RBI single in the sixth for Clearfield, driving in Ruby Singleton, who had two hits in the game.
Young also finished with three hits, while Molly Hanslovan was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, Olivia Eckles was 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, Avery Eckles was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run, while Reiter also had two hits and scored a run.
With the win, St. Marys will play District 6 champion Bellefonte in a subregional championship game on Thursday, June 1st at a District 9 location.
“Definitely continue playing as a team the way we are,” Kara Hanslovan said about the key to making a run in states. “Our lineup is strong top to bottom. We’re feeling pretty good about it. As long as we stay up I think we’ll come out on top.”
