Lady Panthers hold off Cards in championship

May 31—ERIE — Sophomore pitcher Mikaila Obenrader tossed 15 strikeouts and weathered a vicious Cochranton rally in Monday's District 10 Class 1A softball championship at Penn State Behrend.

Saegertown defeated Cochranton 12-8 and kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard until the sixth inning.

"These kids worked so hard. I couldn't be more proud of them coming out as hot as they did," Saegertown head coach Jennifer Bowes said. "Then they maintained their composure because they really started hitting at the end. We just needed them to make a mistake and they did and we capitalized. It's tough to stay disciplined like that."

The Panthers started hot with nine runs in the first three innings.

Senior Brittany Houck scored Rylie Braymer on a ground out to give the Panthers the first lead of the day. Rhiannon Paris scored on a Cochranton error before Hailee Gregor nailed an RBI-double to right field. Saegertown led 3-0 after one.

The Panthers added two runs in the second inning off of another Cochranton error, one of eight on the day.

"It's the game. When you play a good team they put pressure on you and you put pressure on yourselves," Cochranton head coach Mark McGuire said. "Those things happen."

Saegertown added four more in the third inning. Braymer hit an RBI-single to bring Alyssa Arblaster home. Arblaster and Braymer scored on a Paris single, who scored on a Cochranton error in the next at bat.

Defensively, the Cards struggled to get on the base paths with Obenrader on the mound. She was riding a no-hitter until the bottom of the sixth inning.

"The girl is good, there is no denying it. Shake it anyway you wanna shake it, but she's good," McGuire said. "We battled for a while until we finally figured it out."

Getting things started for Cochranton was senior Jaylin McGill. She roped one to the center field wall for a triple to give the Cards a shot of life. Kaylin Rose hit an RBI-single to put the Cards on the board.

Junior Chelsey Freyermuth followed with a triple and came home on a Saegertown fielding error. Cochranton trailed 9-3 through six innings of action.

"She (Obenrader) played tough today. Things didn't always fall her way. Balls were hit that the defense couldn't field, but sometimes you'll have that and she found a way to push through," Bowes said. "That's a really special thing when you have teams hit the ball like they did today."

The Panthers extended their lead with three runs in the top of the seventh before Cochranton put on their rally caps.

Freyermuth doubled to deep center field to bring McGill and Rose in to score. After a Megan Heim single, Taytum Jackson hit a hard grounder to center field to bring Heim and Freyermuth home. Cochranton only trailed 12-8, but that's where the rally fell short as Obenrader got the Panthers out of the inning without further damage.

"The win feels good," Obenrader said. "It's great knowing I can trust them (the defense) if they get a hit on me."

The championship is the fifth overall for Saegertown and the first since 2018.

"We didn't have very many girls this year and I feel like our small numbers really made us work together for a common goal, which was D-10," Houck said. "We've been thinking about it all year so it feels really good that it just happened to be my last.

"I feel like if we work together, a (state) championship is the ultimate goal. I'd love to see us get there."

Offensively, Braymer led the Panthers with three hits, four runs and three RBIs. Hailee Gregor was 2-5 with an RBI.

"I hope we continue to build off of every win we get," Bowes said. "I hope to cleanup some of the little things and we can continue to play some good ball."

Saegertown will play Dubois Central Catholic in the first round of the PIAA playoffs on June 6.

Cochranton got multiple hits from Freyermuth and Rose while both girls and McGill each scored two runs. It was the last time the senior class of McGill, Rose, Heim, Carly Ritcher and Chloa Lippert will don the red and white for Cochranton.

"I just asked them to shed the tears tonight, but please take time to reflect in a day or two. A lot of good things happened, not just this year, but throughout their careers," McGuire said. "I'm sure once we get past the loss they will reflect on their careers as positive."

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SAEGERTOWN (12)

(AB-R-H-BI) Arblaster 5-2-1-0, Braymer 5-4-3-1, Paris 5-2-4-2, Houck 5-0-0-1, Obenrader 3-1-0-0, Gregor 5-0-2-1, Diesing 5-0-0-0, Kirdahy 3-0-1-0, Thompson 1-2-0-0, Triola 2-1-1-0, Halsey 0-0-0-0. Totals 39-12-12-6.

COCHRANTON (8)

(AB-R-H-BI) McGill 2-2-1-0, Rose 4-2-2-1, Freyermuth 4-2-2-4, Heim 4-1-1-0, Jackson 4-0-1-2, Lippert 2-0-0-0, Williams 1-0-0-0, Ritcher 3-1-1-0, Hoffman 2-0-0-0, Hansen 1-0-0-0. Totals 31-8-8-7.

Saegertown 324 000 3 — 12 12 3

Cochranton 000 003 5 — 8 8 8

BATTING

2B: S — Paris, Gregor; C — Freyermuth.

3B: C — Freyermuth, McGill.

PITCHING

(IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB) S — Obenrader WP7-8-8-7-15-2; C — Jackson LP 7-12-12-4-3-5.

Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at atopor@meadvilletribune.com.