BROCKWAY – It\’s been said history has a way of repeating itself.
The Curwensville Area High School softball team is hoping to prove that to be true in the 2009 PIAA Class A Playoffs.
Coach Allen Leigey\’s District 9 champion Lady Tide took the first step Monday with a 3-0 win over District 7 third-place qualifier Leechburg at the Brockway Area High School Field.
Two years ago on the same diamond, Curwensville began its four-game run to the school\’s first state championship by nipping Leechburg 1-0 as Holly Lansberry pitched a no-hitter to best Emily Batitz, who recently set a Thiel College record with an 18-strikeout performance.
Lansberry wasn\’t quite as effective against the Blue Devils this time.
But she was close en route to her 72nd career victory, a new standard for the area.
The senior right-hander, backed by a defense that was flawless, allowed two singles and hit one batter while striking out nine Blue Devils, raising her four-year total to 841.
The shutout was the once-beaten Lansberry\’s 19th in 22 wins this season, but Leigey couldn\’t differentiate between the two gems she\’s authored against Leechburg.
\”I think they were both classic Holly Lansberry pitching performances,\” he said. \”That (no-hit) performance was really good. She was really dialed in. And she was dialed in today.
\”We lived on the drop the last time we played them. We threw two drop balls today. We threw three straight changes and two slow curves. The rest were fastballs, riseballs and curveballs.\”
Informed that 29-year Leechburg coach Jim Oberdorf saw a difference in Lansberry\’s fastball, Leigey responded, \”We\’ve clocked her at 58. She spots it better than she used to. We can go inside. We can go outside. We can go high. Wherever we locate it, she\’s there.\”
Location was a bit of a problem in the early going, though.
Each of the four Blue Devils who faced Lansberry in the first inning saw six pitches. Olivia Oberdorf poked a slow curve into center field for a two-out hit before being called out for interfering with Lady Tide second baseman Jenae Stiles on Keri Barnes\’ looper to the right side.
Lansberry never had another three-ball count, though she need seven pitches to fan losing hurler Trisha Klingensmith and five to send Brittany Skrot back to the dugout in the second inning.
\”She got better as the game went on,\” Leigey said \”We could have played eight, nine, 10 innings, I don\’t know if they could have gotten anything off her.\”
Not the way the Lady Tide was gobbling up everything hit by the Blue Devils.
Sarah Clark ran down Kaysie Young\’s leadoff drive headed for the left field corner in the fourth inning when it was a 1-0 game, Stacey Johnson turned in two dandy plays on grounders near first base and shortstop Shannon McDonald and third baseman Jenessa Stiles took care of anything the Blue Devils pulled to the left side.
\”Our defense showed up,\” Leigey said. \”We always get rapped we\’re living on our pitching, but my defense can play.
\”It was a team effort.\”
Curwensville (23-1) has been struggling to generate offense since mid-May, and the Lady Tide didn\’t exactly light up Klingensmith, who was 8-1 with a 0.88 earned run average.
Not overpowering, she kept the Moshannon Valley League and District 9 Northern Allegany League Southern Tier champs off balance by changing speeds and moving the ball around.
Ashley Demchak solved her for two of Curwensville\’s six hits.
\”I couldn\’t believe we weren\’t getting better hits,\” Leigey said. \”Man, we just couldn\’t wait on her. She wasn\’t fast at all, but she had a pretty good defense behind her. They make the plays.\”
A couple the Blue Devils (16-5) didn\’t make led to their downfall.
Lansberry led off the bottom of the third inning with a line drive that left fielder Toni Antonio couldn\’t quite reach, resulting in a stand-up triple, her first of the season. When the relay was botched, Lansberry sprinted to the plate for the only run she needed.
\”I didn\’t want to take a chance because I had McDonald up next,\” Leigey explained giving Lansberry the stop sign. \”But when I saw the ball (on the outfield grass), I said we\’ve got to take a shot.\”
A last-minute lineup change by Leigey paid dividends in the fourth when freshman Molly Demchak, inserted as the designated player, led off with a sharp single through the left side.
Flex player Jenae Stiles ran for her and moved up on Clark\’s sacrifice bunt. Tess Bloom beat out a slow roller to third base when Skrot took a split-second to glance at Stiles.
With runners on the corners, Leigey flashed the steal sign to Bloom, and Stiles broke for the plate on the throw to second. She scored easily when the return throw sailed over the head of catcher Barnes.
Bloom wound up at third and scored without drawing a throw on Erin Bressler\’s grounder to short.
\”We sort of manufactured them,\” Leigey said of the two insurance runs. \”Tess hustled that one out and we ended up with first and third.
\”We\’re in a situation, up 1-0, hey, make that play. If you don\’t make it, we\’ve got a run.\”
The Lady Tide got a pair, and a 3-0 lead is money in the bank almost any day Lansberry is in the circle.
\”I was pleased how well we played,\” Leigey said. \”We wanted to move on. That\’s the big thing.\”
Curwensville moves into the \”Elite Eight\” for the third time in four years.
Next up for the Lady Tide will be District 10 champion Union City (20-2) on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
The Bears clawed District 7 runner-up Avonworth 7-4 Monday for their program\’s first-ever PIAA playoff victory.
Avonworth edged Leechburg 4-3 in the WPIAL semifinals.
LEECHBURG — 0
Victoria Oberdorf 2b 3000, Kaysie Young cf 3000, Olivia Oberdorf ss 2010, Keri Barnes c 3010, Trisha Klingensmith p-3b 3000, Brittany Skrot 3b 3000, Kelly Klingensmith dp-p 2000, Keli Barnes 1b 2000, Toni Antonio lf 2000, Heather Zack rf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 23 0 2 0.
CURWENSVILLE — 3
Holly Lansberry p 3110, Shannon McDonald ss 2000, Ashley Demchak c 3020, Jenessa Stiles 3b 3000, Stacey Johnson 1b 3000, Molly Demchak dp 2010, Morgan Peterman ph 1000, Sarah Clark lf 2010, Tess Bloom cf 2110, Erin Bressler rf 2001, Jenae Stiles 2b (flex) 0100. TOTALS: 23 3 6 1.
Score by Innings
Leechburg 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
Curwensville 001 200 x – 3 6 0
Errors – V. Oberdorf, Young. LOB – Leechburg 3; Curwensville 4. 2B – A. Demchak. 3B – Lansberry. Sac – Clark. SB – Bloom.
Pitching
Leechburg – T. Klingensmith 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; K. Klingensmith 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
Curwensville – Lansberry 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K.
HB – Lansberry 1 (O. Oberdorf).
W – Lansberry (22-1). L – T. Klingensmith (8-2).
Umpires – Denny Kopenhaver (plate); Bill Overly (first); Gary Snyder (second); Ron Walters (third).
