P-O softball claims second PIAA Class AA title
UNIVERSITY PARK - After setting state championship game records at the plate in a 16-9 win over Brandywine Heights in 2007, the Philipsburg-Osceola softball team went to the other extreme on Friday at Penn State's Beard Field.
The Lady Mounties had just five hits against Lady Bullets pitcher Sara Fronheiser, but the one run they scored was enough to lift them to the second state title in school history.
Macy Harpster's sacrifice bunt in the second inning plated Kate Burge with the game's only tally, while pitcher Chelsea Rex struck out 11 to lead P-O, which finished the season at 25-1 with the 1-0 win.
For the Lady Mounties and a majority of the 1,400 strong in attendance, the win over Brandywine Heights was especially sweet after falling in last year's title contest to Nanticoke, 3-1, in 11 innings.
"We had so much determination after last year that we knew we had to get back here and win it," said Rex, who threw 65 of her 99 pitches for strikes. "We had so much confidence in our team, and everyone trusted one another. I couldn't ask for a better team.
"I think the adrenaline just kicked in once we got here. I don't think there was anyone left in Philipsburg today. Everyone came out and supported us - it's just great to know that you have that many people behind you."
With each out recorded, the P-O faithful cheered, but they didn't cheer any louder than when the final out was recorded.
After the Lady Bullets' Shelby Snyder led off the bottom of the seventh with a single on the first pitch she saw from Rex, the senior pitcher - like she had all game - came up with another big strikeout after her counterpart was unable to lay down a sacrifice bunt.
Rex induced a pop up to Burge at third for the second out, and went to a 3-ball, 1-strike count to No. 9 hitter Katrina Hughes.
Hughes fouled off consecutive pitches, and hit a lazy popup in foul territory on Rex's second full-count offering.
The ball was headed for no-man's land, but shortstop Mackenzie Wilson tracked down the ball and snared it for the final out - setting off the celebration she started by spiking the ball in jubilation.
"That was the most exciting moment of my life," said Wilson, who had two of her team's five hits against Fronheiser. "My team just started running over to me, and I was so pumped. I was just screaming and everything ... it was an awesome feeling.
"I knew I had to (get to that ball) ... I knew that was going to be the final out. I was so nervous that I couldn't fight through another out, so I had to end it right there."
While the play wouldn't have been made by many other players, P-O head coach Jim Gonder expected Wilson to make the play.
"It's just a lot of emotions (after getting the final out)," the 29-year head coach said. "There was a lot of hard work from the beginning of the season until now.
"If there's a popup anywhere near Mackenzie, she's going after it. Even though it was a tough play, I was confident that she was going to get that ball."
Gonder wasn't the only one who knew Wilson was going to snag the sinking popup.
"It was awesome and I wouldn't expect anything less from her," said Rex, who finished the postseason with five shutouts.
"She ran her heart out to get there, and I was just so excited when she caught that ball and I knew the game was over. We knew we had to get those three outs, and we just weren't going to let anything stop us."
Like she has all season, Burge was in the middle of the spark that ignited the Lady Mounties.
Burge drew a four-pitch walk to open the second, and senior Kelci Knepp laid down the first of two sacrifice bunts in the stanza.
Fronheiser was called for an illegal pitch, which awarded third base to Burge, and Harpster followed with her picturesque sacrifice.
The illegal pitch was the lone error the Lady Bullet hurler made on the day, as she scattered five hits and struck out 11 P-O hitters. Fronheiser issued a pair of walks.
"We know in playoffs that we have to (play small ball)," Gonder said. "Both teams (had missed opportunities) and that is what is going to happen in a well-pitched game. You have to put the ball in play, but their pitcher was striking people out and Chelsea was striking theirs out.
"She wasn't going to throw a fastball by us, but she used a lot of spins and went in-and-out and up-and-down. She was a good pitcher. (The other pitchers we faced) were more power pitchers where she was more finesse. She had us off-balance."
Despite handcuffing Lady Mountie hitters and working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, Fronheiser and Brandywine Heights (26-3) didn't have an answer for Rex and the P-O defense.
The Lady Bullets had the leadoff hitter on base in five of the seven innings, but was held scoreless on each occasion.
Rex allowed a leadoff double to open the sixth, but struck out three of the next four hitters to keep it a 1-0 game.
Gonder opted to walk Brandywine Heights' No. 3 hitter Jenn Dalickas with one out, and Rex made the move pay off with her ninth and 10th K's of the contest.
"We said in our scouting report that we weren't going to let Dalickas beat us," said Gonder. "It was a situation that we weren't going to take a chance. We went with our scouting report, and it paid off.
"(Chelsea) really brought her ‘A' game today, and that's definitely the best she's pitched all year. She had 11 strikeouts against a pretty good team, and she pretty much had control of the game."
The runner-up finish for the Lady Bullets was their third in school history, after losing twice to the Lady Mounties and to Bald Eagle Area in 2005.
P-O and its District 6 and Mountain League rival, the Lady Eagles, have made the state finals every year since 2004, with 2006 being the only exception.
Both Rex and Wilson were at the Lady Mounties' first championship win, and both agreed that it played a role in wanting to get back to the pinnacle of Class AA.
"I'm sad the season is over (and) I wish we could keep playing," Rex said, "but I couldn't pick a better way for it to end. It's just amazing to go out with a win and win states our senior year. I was crying a little bit after the game, but I was happy. It's an amazing feeling."
"I've been thinking about this since I was so little," added Wilson. "All of the softball programs in our area are so competitive, but this is our goal since we started - to win a state championship."