D2 softball: Mid Valley tops Redeemer in 3A for fourth straight district title

Kevin Carroll, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·5 min read

Jun. 1—SCRANTON — Looking to capture the school's fourth straight district championship, Mid Valley showed just why the rest of the field in 3A softball has been unable to knock them from the top of the mountain.

The Spartans scored 12 runs on 11 hits, including a six-run sixth inning that brought the mercy rule into effect and brought home another Class 3A district title on Wednesday at Marywood University.

"We had a motto a few years back: a new hero every game," Mid Valley coach Michael Piercy said after the game. "We had so many kids from one to nine step up today in key spots."

It was always going to be a tall task for Holy Redeemer — the third seed in the 3A bracket coming off of an extra-innings win over Lake-Lehman in the semis — to keep Mid Valley's bats quiet. Equally daunting was the task the Royals offense had, stepping in against Villanova commit Maranda Runco.

Runco picked up the win with a complete game four-hitter, allowing just two runs and striking out seven. All seven of those strikeouts came in the first three innings, after which the Redeemer bats began to find contact, though hits were still hard to come by.

"We missed a couple opportunities, but from the middle innings and on, we started putting the ball in play more," Holy Redeemer coach Jerry Paulukonis said. "At first we were a little bit late, once we got the timing down we put it in play."

The Royals were able to strike first, Anne Carter driving in Payton Parker on a slap past the third baseman to make it a 1-0 game in the second inning.

The lead, however, was short-lived; Courtney Rebar led off the bottom of the second for Mid Valley and took the first pitch she saw over the left-field wall to tie things up.

Rebar's homer opened the doors for the Spartan offense, who put three more runs on the board in the inning, with a two-run triple from Audrey Hasenzahl doing the brunt of the damage.

Both Rebar and Hasenzahl were right in the middle of Mid Valley's offensive explosion in the final two innings, where the Spartans scored 10 runs to end the game early.

Rebar had an RBI double in the sixth, then singled and scored a run in the seventh, ending her day just a triple shy of the cycle. Hasenzahl drove in a run on a sacrifice groundout in the seventh, with a second run coming around to score on some heads-up baserunning from Krista Cortazar.

It was nine-hitter Jordan Carroll who put the nail in the coffin, smoking a single into right field to set the 10-run rule into effect, ending the game an inning early.

In addition to Parker and Carter's base hits in the second, Kaylee Gryboski and Bella Boylan accounted for Redeemer's other two hits in the fifth inning, with Gryboski scoring the second run of the game for the Royals after what appeared to be a routine groundout to third base with runners on the corners turned into a circus.

After the out was made at first to retire batter Lauren Hayden, the Royals' trailing runner started retreating to first base, sparking a rundown that allowed Gryboski to score, running through a tag from Mid Valley catcher Mackenzie Adolfson and knocking the ball free.

Holy Redeemer's season comes to an end with a 15-8 record. With a relatively young team, Paulukonis is optimistic about the team's future.

"The program is going to be successful," he said. "I think we'll be competitive for quite a few years."

Mid Valley will head to the PIAA Class 3A tournament, starting on June 5. The Spartans will face Warrior Run, the runner-up in District 4, in the first round.

District 2 Class 3A Championship

Mid Valley 12, Holy Redeemer 2 (6 inn.)

Holy Redeemer'AB'R'H'BI

Santuk c'3'0'0'0

Whitman cf'3'0'0'0

Paulukonis lf'3'0'0'0

Williams ss-p'3'0'0'0

Parker 2b'2'1'1'0

Gryboski 1b'2'1'1'0

Carter p-ss'2'0'0'1

Stetz-Madden pr'0'0'0'0

Hayden rf'2'0'0'0

Boylan 3b'2'0'1'0

Totals'22'2'4'1

Mid Valley'AB'R'H'BI

Davis 2b'4'1'2'0

Zavislak cf'4'1'0'0

Runco p'2'0'1'1

Pezanowski pr'0'1'0'0

Kizer 3b'4'2'1'1

Rebar 1b'4'2'3'2

Cortazar rf'3'2'2'1

Adolfson c'2'0'0'1

Mackey pr'0'2'0'0

Hasenzahl lf'3'1'1'3

Carroll dp'4'0'1'2

Totals'30'12'11'11

Holy Redeemer' '010'010 — 2

Mid Valley' '040'026 — 12

2B — Cortazar, Rebar. 3B — Hasenzahl. HR — Rebar.

Holy Redeemer'IP'H'R'ER'BB'SO

Carter (L)'5.1'10'10'8'2'3

Williams'0.1'1'2'2'2'0

Mid Valley'IP'H'R'ER'BB'SO

Runco (W)'6'4'2'1'0'7

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