Central Mountain Softball Uses Small Ball for Big Win

By Tom Elling

WINGATE- The District 6/9 5A Regional play-off between DuBois and Central Mountain was forecast as a toss-up. Afterall, Central Mountain and the Lady Beavers met in late March with the Lady Wildcats taking a 4-3, eight inning thriller. Josey Shultz grabbed her first win in that match-up in a relief role. She got the start this game. And she didn’t disappoint.

DuBois had revenge on their minds and, thanks to a first inning blast by Ava Baronick, they held a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the third. But that was the deciding inning in the game. The usually hard-hitting ‘Cats bunted five times- four of those for base hits and they all were vital in the three-run burst. CM coach Taylor Thompson confirmed that her team practiced long and hard the past week on that aspect of the game.

“We knew this would be a tough game,” she stated. “We worked every day on bunting the ball. We didn’t hit today as we had hoped, so we used whatever weapon we had  to get the job done.”

Each team had five hits, but the clutch pitching by Shultz and a solid defense to go along with the ‘short attack’ propelled the CM gals to their 15th win and a spot in the PIAA State playoffs.

Shultz was praised by her coach for her unshakable demeanor. “Josey was really composed. She is an excellent pitcher under stress.”  No inning proved that more than the very first when she got a key ground-out to leave the bases full. That was due to good pitching and a nice play by shortstop Cirstyn Watson. Lefthander Shultz whiffed 9 Beaver batter’s while allowing just two free passes. At one point, she struck out six in a row. After the first inning’s four hits, she allowed just a two-out in the fifth.

Central Mountain heroes in the 3-run third were Taylor Doyle, Ava Doyle, Aubrey Eiler, Cirstyn Watson and Katelyn Bowman. They would not get a hit the rest of the game. 

“I have great faith in these girls,” Thompson mused. ”They came here to scrap and that’s what they did. We found a way to win.”

With that win, the ‘Cats will next face the District 7 (WPIAL) runner-up. With an added dimension in their plate attack, who’s to say the run won’t continue.

DuBois   1 0 0  0 0 0  0  1-5-1

CM         0 0 3  0 0 0  x   3-5-2