Ditty fans 11 in big Lady Bucks win over Muncy, 16-7
By Bees O’Brien
MUNCY- Muncy and Bucktail softball are both at a crossroads. The Lady Indians are trying to rebuild following a 7-starter graduating class that qualified for the PIAA 2A playoffs and Bucktail is trying to defend their two straight District IV titles behind a freshman pitcher. Both programs are typical at the top of the Mid Penn Conference, but 2025 hasn’t been starting off the best for both squads.
Muncy was off to a 1-1 start, while Bucktail was finding life a bit tough following a 17-7 home loss to Montgomery which put them at 1-3 on the season.
Bucktail proved they wanted it more than the Lady Indians on Thursday night by pounding out 11 hits, scoring 11 runs in the final two innings and riding the arm of that freshman pitcher. Carrie Ditty smoked the Muncy lineup by racking up 11 strike outs and just 2 earned runs allowed.
Muncy jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 1 inning and added another run in their next at bat.
Down 4-0, Bucktail rallied scoring 3 runs in their half of third inning and used a run in the top of the fourth to tie things up at 4-4. Muncy crossed another run in their next at bat to take a 5-4 lead. That would be the Lady Indians’ final lead of the contest.
Bucktail tied the game up again in the fifth inning and used a monster 5-run sixth inning to put the game away and hold a 10-5 lead.
Muncy catcher Taylor Shannon then went to deep left with a home run to shrink Bucktail’s lead to 10-6.
The Lady Bucks offense just kept rolling in the seventh. Bucktail added 6 insurance runs in their last at bat to extend their lead to 16-6. Muncy would add a final run in the seventh inning to set the 16-7 final.
Eva Sockman paced the Bucktail offense with a pair of doubles and two singles to go along with her 3 runs scored and 3 RBI’s. Makenna Stone also had a strong day at the plate by going 3 for 3 with 4 runs scored.Hayleigh Dent, Rebecca Conway, Angel Kmetz and Kendall Wagner also collected hits for the Lady Bucks. Wagner drove in a pair of runs and scored three of her. Kmetz added 2 runs batted in.
Bucktail improved to 2-3 on the season and stayed very much alive in the Mid Penn Conference race with a 2-1 record within MPC play. Bucktail will have a tall order on Monday in Farwell when they host defending District 6 1A champions West Branch (5-1).
