UNIVERSITY PARK - The Huskies softball team took a trip over the mountain to Penn State University with another trip - to the PIAA Class AAAA tournament - on the line, but they left their bats in Lewistown.
Mifflin County scored just one run on four hits in a loss to Central Mountain, 4-1.
The Wildcats got enough in the second inning, then added some insurance later in the game.
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Sentinel photo by BUFFIE?BOYER
Mifflin County catcher Allessa Morrison caught the ball and tagged Central Mountain’s Moriah Lindsey for an out Wednesday at Penn State’s Beard Field.
Starting pitcher Mikala Britt got a groundout and a strikeout to start the second, but boarded Brit Koch with a pitch, then gave up a single to Johnna Garbrick, who took second on the throw to third. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Ciarra Peters didn't let the opportunity get past her as she took a 3-2 pitch to deep right-center for a two-run triple.
"The one senior in the lineup came through in a clutch position and I was real proud of her," Central Mountain coach David Peters said. "She carried us in the game offensively."
Britt stopped the bleeding when she got Whitney Peters to fly out to left.
In the bottom of the third, Mifflin County's Brooke Wilson led the inning off with a double and reached third on a sacrifice bunt. After Macie Lucas struck out, things looked grim for the Huskies with two outs, but the first pitch to Brandi Sherwood was wild and Wilson didn't hesititate - she took off for the plate and scored without a throw, making the tally 2-1 and getting the Huskies crowd excited for the first time in the game.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, but in the fifth the Wildcats came through again. Ciarra Peters drew a walk to start the fifth and reached second on a sacrifice bunt. Rachel Zimmerman hopped into the circle for the Huskies at that point and gave up a single to Lindsey, putting runners on first and third with one out.
Zimmerman struggled to control the ball as she walked the next two batters, scoring Peters and loading the bases. With the bases loaded and still just one out, Jordan Kaler flied out to right and Lindsey tagged up to run; Emily Tomasello threw a rocket to the plate that Alessa Morrison caught on the fly to tag Lindsey as she slid into home, ending the inning.
Huskies' coach Jack McCurdy thought that play would help propel his team into the lead.
"When that happened, I really felt like at that point the game was going to change," McCurdy said. "And unfortunately we didn't capatilize on that opportunity right there."
In the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies got two on as Tara Kibe reached on an error and Macie Lucas hit an infield single to short. That brought up Sherwood, who gave the ball a ride right to the wall in center - but Garbrick made a great catch as she fell just in front of the wall for the third out of the inning.
In the sixth Zimmerman got two strikeouts to start the inning before Garbrick hit a liner to short. Brandi Sherwood made what appeared to be a shoestring catch on the ball, but the umpires ruled the ball hit the ground and Sherwood's throw was late to first. McCurdy appealed to the home plate umpire, but after a meeting of the crew they upheld the ruling that the ball hit the ground.
"You can't do anything about that so I'm not going to comment on that," McCurdy said of the call.
Garbrick stole second two pitches later and scored when Peters singled to right for her third RBI of the game.
From there the Huskies lost all the momentum. They got a two-out single in the sixth but couldn't score, and went down in order in the seventh to end the game. Although the loss ends the Huskies' season, McCurdy was happy with the way his team played in its first season.
"I think they came a long way," McCurdy said. "The one thing I'll say about this team is they came together - unfortunately they just didn't get the win today."
The Huskies finish their inaugural season at 14-6 and will graduate four seniors that McCurdy couldn't be more proud of.
"That's tough for any person, I really feel bad for those guys," McCurdy said. "They were the informal leaders of this team, they brought this team together and they wanted this district championship so it's got to be a little disappointing. But that's life, you have to deal with that disappointment sometimes."
