CHALK IT UP: DuBois Central Catholic’s Rylee Kulbatsky, Curwensville’s Addison Siple Locked in Duel, but Cardinals Earn 1-0 Win for D9 Crown

DuBOIS, Pa. (EYT) — Resting quietly behind Rylee Kulbatsky in the back of the pitching circle is a bright white sock stuffed with chalk.

Simple. Strange-looking. Easy to overlook.

But for the DuBois Central Catholic ace, it has become part superstition, part security blanket and part reset button.

“It keeps me calm,” Kulbatsky said. “I squeeze it. It’s kind of like a fidget. I squeeze it, I talk to myself, and it lets me reset before every pitch.”

On Monday afternoon at Heindl Field, Kulbatsky needed every bit of calm she could find.

Standing opposite Curwensville ace Addison Siple in the District 9 Class A championship game meant every pitch was important. Every baserunner mattered. Every mistake threatened to become permanent.

Runs were going to be rare.

Kulbatsky made sure they were almost nonexistent.

The Kent State recruit tossed a brilliant two-hit shutout, and Reese Pfingstler’s RBI double that carried over a fielder’s head accounted for the game’s only run as DCC edged Curwensville, 1-0, to capture another District 9 crown.

Kulbatsky has already lived through plenty of championship moments in her career — four District 9 titles and a state championship among them.

This one still felt different.

“This one is pretty far up there,” Kulbatsky said. “Especially because last year we played such a long game — it was 12 innings — and this was just nice to get it done in seven innings and have a good, solid win against a good, solid team with a great pitcher.”

There was little separation between the two aces for most of the afternoon.

Zeros stacked inning after inning as Kulbatsky and Siple traded dominance beneath a late spring sun.

Finally, DCC broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning.

For Kulbatsky, it felt enormous.

“I could have cried because I was like, ‘Yes. Finally got a run,’” Kulbatsky said with a laugh. “I was super proud of everybody. I really couldn’t be prouder.”

Still, the pressure didn’t disappear.

Not against a lineup capable of changing the game with one swing. Not with Siple dealing in the opposite dugout.

“It gets stressful the more zeros keep going up on the board,” Kulbatsky admitted. “But you still have to sit there and take a step back and be like, ‘Just do your thing and it’ll work out.’”

She finished it herself in the seventh.

Two groundouts. One strikeout. Ballgame.

Kulbatsky allowed only two singles — both to Kylah Wos — while striking out nine. She walked one and hit two batters.

Siple was equally sensational in defeat. The Curwensville standout surrendered just two hits, walked nobody and struck out 12.

The kind of performance that often wins championships.

This time, it simply ran into another ace.

As for Kulbatsky, the chalk sock never strayed far away.

Sometimes it earns puzzled looks from umpires, who routinely walk over to inspect it before games.

“A lot of girls use rosin bags, but I don’t really like rosin,” Kulbatsky said. “It’s just chalk — like gym chalk — and it’s literally in a sock.”

Then she laughed.

“Umpires come out and feel it,” she said. “As long as there’s not rocks in it and it’s smooth, it’s OK. But they definitely look at me like, ‘What are you doing?’”

The sock even became a conversation piece during her recruiting process.

Including at Kent State.

“They thought it was interesting,” Kulbatsky said with a smile. “I went to camps and I had my chalk sock right there. I am taking it to Kent.”

And before she heads there, Kulbatsky has at least one more postseason run left in a DCC uniform.

Another district title already secured.

Maybe another state title still waiting somewhere ahead.

“It’s definitely on my mind,” she admitted. “No moment is too big, and really we just have to own everything that we come across.”

The post CHALK IT UP: DuBois Central Catholic’s Rylee Kulbatsky, Curwensville’s Addison Siple Locked in Duel, but Cardinals Earn 1-0 Win for D9 Crown appeared first on exploreJefferson.