PIAA SOFTBALL: Minersville romps past Elk Lake
Jun. 6—TUNKHANNOCK — A couple of perfectly placed bloopers spotted Minersville to an early lead.
The rest of their 13 hits? They were loud.
The Battling Miners got a 14-strikeout performance from Kaycee Raczka and the offense backed her, scoring in five of six innings to romp past District 2 champ Elk Lake, 14-3, in Monday's PIAA Class 2A softball playoff opener at Tunkhannock Area High School.
"We like batting first," Minersville coach Jamie Kuehn said. "We like putting runs on the board early. That always makes the pitcher a little more comfortable, the defense a little more comfortable. I think even the offense settles in a little bit more."
It took just two pitches to set the tone, Grace Sterner looping a single over the head of Elk Lake shortstop Leah Traver. After a sacrifice bunt, Emily Hart placed her hit in almost the exact spot of Sterner's to make it 1-0.
Payton Fratz followed, lacing a two-out single through the middle to make it 2-0.
"In a big game like this, I'm pretty sure we were all nervous, so seeing us hit like this, it's a big achievement," said Frantz, who singled twice and doubled, knocking in a run with each of her hits. "I think that we need to get on the board quick because it boosts our confidence. We know that we can put up more. "
Elk Lake (19-3) found itself behind for one of the few times this season, and answered on Traver's bunt single, a walk and a hit
batter.
But Raczka bore down, eventually striking out the side.
"Our goal the days leading up to here was to get three-up, three-down, and we come in and put a number up on the board," Elk Lake coach Tony Blaisure said. "Today, it worked the other way against us and it's tough to come back if you get down that early.
"You've got to put the ball in play and make things happen. The couple times we did put it in play, they made some mistakes throwing it around. But you've got to put the ball in play more than once or twice."
Minersville (16-8) certainly did that.
Raczka started a seven-run third, driving a changeup to left for a single, the first of her three hits.
"During the season, it was hard with all the errors we were making," Raczka said. "We made up for it during this game, showing how we can actually play."
Frantz drove a single to right to make it 3-0, and Lauren Hammer drilled an RBI single to left.
Olivia Kopinetz also singled in a run before Keera Brennan broke it open with a two-run triple.
By the time the inning was over, 11 hitters came to the plate, ripping six hits to go with a hit batter, a walk and three stolen bases.
"They seemed to be right on time," Blaisure said. "All their hits were pretty solid after that first inning. You've got to tip your hat to them because they did hit the ball where it was pitched and they hit it hard."
Not a surprise to Frantz.
"That was one of our best hitting games, honestly, especially against a good pitcher," Frantz said. "We're just overall a really good hitting team. So it's not very surprising to see us hit that well."
Elk Lake got on the board in the bottom of the third when Traver ripped a triple and scored on losing pitcher Amanda Voll's grounder.
"We kept fighting," Blaisure said. "I would have liked to see us fight a little bit harder early in the game when they scored nine runs in the first three innings, but today wasn't our day. Minersville came out swinging the bats better than we did today, and at this time of year, you've got to stop teams from scoring. You can't allow them to score in five out of six innings."
Minersville tacked on five more over the final three innings, allowing Raczka, who got the first 12 outs via strikeout, to coast.
"She's certainly capable of that every game," Kuehn said. "We're very proud of what she's doing out there. We knew that's a good team over there. I think they came in with a (19-2) record, but she shut them down."
Elk Lake finally got the offense untracked in the fifth, Voll and Megan Johns rapping back-to-back triples, and Cheyenne Horn following with an RBI single.
Minersville countered with a pair of runs in the sixth to end it via the 10-run rule.
Minersville 14, Elk Lake 3
Minersville 207 122 — 14
Elk Lake 001 020 — 3
WP: Kaycee Raczka 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 14SO
LP: Amanda Voll 6IP, 13H, 14R, 10ER, 3BB, 5SO
2B: Payton Frantz (Min).
3B: Megan Johns (EL), Amanda Voll (EL), Keera Brennan (Min), Leah Traver (EL).
Records: MIN 16-8, EL 19-3
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