SLIPPERY ROCK – The Curwensville Area High School softball team has been on a mission this season.
\”This team, from day one, said they were going to The Ship,\” smiling head coach Allen Leigey stated after his players fulfilled that vow Monday evening.
Unfazed by a rain delay of one hour and 10 minutes, the confident District 9 champions engineered a solid, well-played 4-0 victory over District 7 titlist Vincentian Academy in the PIAA Class A Western Final on the Slippery Rock University diamond.
Shannon McDonald belted a one-out home run and Stacey Johnson doubled home another run in the first inning for all the offensive support Holly Lansberry really needed as she turned in another dominating performance in the circle, three-hitting the Lady Royals and striking out nine for her 20th shutout of the season.
On Friday, Curwensville (25-1) will be returning to Shippensburg University\’s Robb Field for the second time in three years in hopes of mirroring the 2007 squad\’s championship effort.
Old Forge (17-2) will be the Lady Tide\’s opponent in the 2 p.m. Class A title game.
The District 2 champs trimmed District 6 titlist Claysburg-Kimmel 2-0 in the Eastern Final with Jess Armillay pitching her second perfect game in five days.
While Old Forge will be a most worthy opponent, the Lady Tide players will show up with the same outlook, the same conviction in each other\’s ability that they\’ve displayed all season.
Leigey has tried to temper that attitude at times.
He said, \”Even through the regular season, and then when we got in the playoffs, they said, \’We\’re going to The Ship, Mr. Leigey. We\’re going to The Ship.\’
\”I said I believe it, but we\’ve gotta take it a game at a time.
\”We didn\’t have a real easy road, but I\’m not a doubter now.\”
Nor are the Royals skeptics any more.
In the 2007 quarterfinals, Curwensville sidelined Vincentian 7-1 behind Lansberry\’s three-hit pitching.
The shut-down senior right-hander was even better in the rematch.
Only one time did she go to a full count in a neat, 83-pitch effort.
Lansberry retired 17 batters in a row after the speedy Ale Zozos dropped down a perfect bunt for a single to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
Zozos, an outstanding center fielder who had a hit and scored the lone run two years ago, ended the string with a sharp grounder that handcuffed shortstop McDonald with two outs in the sixth.
Vincentian\’s other single came in the seventh when Taresa Dongilli slapped a two-out single to right.
Neither Lady Royal reached second base.
\”Holly was Holly today,\” Leigey said. \”She was A-plus. Her whole array of pitches were working.
\”She was bringing the heat when we needed it. She was throwing the drop real well. She was throwing the slow curve real well in spots.
\”And she was getting help. Our outfielders all made plays. My infielders were making the plays that were there. Our defense was stepping up. They were playing together.\”
It was the same at the plate, as everyone except Lansberry joined in the 11-hit attack on Lady Royal junior Nina Melvin, the third member her family to pitch for Vincentian in the last seven years.
McDonald, Johnson and Molly Demchak led the way with two hits apiece.
McDonald, who singled and doubled for a pair of RBIs against current Brown University hurler Trish Melvin in 2007, jolted the Vincentian faithful when she sent the fifth pitch of the game over the right field fence.
\”We really scouted them hard,\” Leigey noted. \”We had the luxury of having a tape of the WPIAL finals. We really thought a lot of their pitcher, my girls were sure that they could come out and hit her. I thought we were on her pretty good.
\”Shannon got us started. She hit a rocket, and we ended up getting another one.\”
With two outs, Jenessa Stiles singled over first base and was chased home by Johnson, whose double soared past Zozos in deep center.
\”When Stacey\’s relaxed and not pressing, she\’s as good as any of the hitters in our lineup,\” Leigey said. \”She\’s hard on herself when she makes an out. But when she doesn\’t, she\’s good.
\”That was huge. That just put us in the driver\’s seat. Then we stole one.\”
In the fourth inning, Johnson punched a single into right and, after two groundouts, pinch-runner Lindsay Barrett scooted home from third when Tess Bloom surprised the Lady Royals with a dandy two-out bunt to make it 3-0.
\”I\’ve always said, give Holly three, and we\’re going to win 99 percent of the time, unless we shoot ourselves in the foot.\”
The Lady Tide wasn\’t about to do that.
Curwensville\’s final run came in the sixth. After Demchak \’s catchable high fly to right fell for a hit, flex player Jenae Stiles ran for her and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Leigey let Sara Clark swing away after she failed on one bunt attempt, and the junior left fielder responded by drilling a single to right center for an RBI.
\”That was awesome,\” Leigey began his post-game interview with Radio Station WOKW-FM\’s Dave Marino and Bear Stewart. \”The girls just played great.
\”They\’re just amazing. This team does not expect to lose.
\”Sometimes, I say they\’re a little bit over the top, because the ball does bounce funny, but it doesn\’t matter.
\”If you brought in the New York Yankees, I think they would think they could beat them.\”
That confidence has the Lady Tide on the doorstep of PIAA gold and glory again.
Melvin had seven strikeouts for Vincentian. She\’s one of seven underclassmen in a lineup that most likely will be in the WPIAL and PIAA limelight again next year.
The Lady Royals finished 22-3 as repeat D-7 champs after two previous seasons as the WPIAL runners-up.
CURWENSVILLE — 4
Holly Lansberry p 4000, Shannon McDonald ss 4121, Ashley Demchak c 4010, Jenessa Stiles 3b 4110, Stacey Johnson 1b 4021, Lindsay Barrett pr 0100, Molly Demchak dp 3020, Jenae Stiles 2b (flex) 0100, Sara Clark lf 3011, Tess Bloom cf 3011, Erin Bressler rf 3010. TOTALS: 32 4 11 4.
VINCENTIAN ACADEMY — 0
Ale Zozos cf 3020, Nikki Lindner c 3000, Ashley Darby 2b 3000, Nina Melvin p 3000, Taresa Dongilli 3b 3010, Bridget Melvin 1b 3000, Emily Beckley ss 2000, Ashlyn Mallison lf 2000, Kaela Huston rf 2000. TOTALS: 24 0 3 0.
Score by Innings
Curwensville 200 101 0 – 4 11 0
Vincentian 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Error – Darby. DP – Vincentian 1 (Darby and B. Melvin). LOB – Curwensville 7; Vincentian 3. 2B – Johnson. HR – McDonald (2).
Pitching
Curwensville – Lansberry 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K.
Vincentian – N. Melvin 7 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.
WP – N. Melvin 1.
W – Lansberry (24-1). L – N. Melvin (22-3).
Umpires – Steve Blackman (plate); Chip Williams (first base); Patty Croty (second base); John Davis (third base).
