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Muncy back in D4 title game, states

CHRIS MANNING/For The Sun-Gazette Makenna Snyder makes contact for Milton in the District 4 Class A semifinals Saturday vs. Cowanesque Valley.

TURBOTVILLE — Muncy softball players could have slept awhile longer Saturday morning. Their game did not start until 1 p.m. and the field was just 10 minutes away.

Instead, those players woke up early and went to work. It had been nearly a decade since Muncy reached either a district championship or state tournament and the Indians were not about to rest when a breakthrough was so close.

It sure paid dividends, too. Muncy attacked early and often, scoring eight runs in the first two innings before holding off repeated Cowanesque Valley rallies as it won its District 4 Class A semifinal, 8-2 at the Moser Softball Complex. Muncy (18-3) clinched its first state tournament berth and district final appearance since 2009 and will play Northeast Bradford in Tuesday’s championship.

“We wanted it. We’ve been been practicing really hard and we were prepared and ready to take it,” shortstop Lyndsi Stugart said. “You have to be there practicing hard and we do. We’re always there. Whatever it takes, we do it.”

Stugart went 2 for 2 with an RBI triple and scored twice while Kat Ebner scattered seven hits and worked out of two dangerous situations over the last four innings. Muncy scored three runs in the first inning and five more in the second while exorcising some demons of the past after losing in the semifinals five times since taking the 2009 championship.

“That’s what we preached all week,” Muncy coach Kevin Miller said. “Come out on fire and come out, not with your tail between your legs, but come out ready to play and they did.”

Annabelle Bergey (2 for 3) ignited the first-inning rally with a one-out single. Three batters later Makenna Snyder put Muncy up 2-0, hitting an RBI single and Kaitlyn Copeland made it 3-0, scoring Stugart with a sacrifice fly.

Muncy did not slow down in the second inning either. Monique Woodring slammed a leadoff double down the left-field line and Muncy scored five times on four hits. Bergey delivered a key bunt single, Ebner hit an RBI single and Stugart highlighted the rally with an RBI triple to deep right field. Playing in what could have been her final game, Stugart went 2 for 2, scored twice and cut down a runner at home when CV was trying to come back in the sixth inning.

“It was really rewarding. I wanted it,” Stugart said. “We know it only takes one person to get a hit and then everyone’s attitudes are up and then we all want to hit. It’s always nice to start it off like that.”

CV (11-11) rallied to make the playoffs and won a thrilling quarterfinal against Galeton when Karmen Short hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning. The Indians bring back their entire team in 2018 and the future appears mighty bright.

But down 8-0, CV was not yet looking toward the future. The Indians scored a run each in the third and fourth innings and were a big hit from making the game mighty interesting. Ebner and her defense, however, kept squashing those rallies.

CV opened the third inning with three consecutive hits and Amaya Walker’s RBI double made it 8-1 and put runners on second and third with no outs. Third baseman Dominique Schell then made a huge play, snaring a liner down the line and doubling off the lead runner. Ebner ended the threat by inducing a flyout. An inning later, CV scored again and had runners on second and third. This time, center fielder Kassidi Lenhart made a super catch that saved a hit and a run before Ebner ended the inning with a strikeout.

Ebner, who won her area-high 18th game, continued excelling under pressure in the sixth inning. CV loaded the bases with one out but Stugart threw out a runner at home after fielding a grounder and Ebner induced an inning-ending groundout. Ebner finished with seven strikeouts and stranded seven runners between the third and sixth innings.

“I don’t think I’d want anybody else than Kat in that position to take control of the game for us,” Miller said. “She’s focused all the time. I think she performs better under pressure.”

CV pitcher Ashleigh Southard was brilliant over her final 4 2/3 innings, retiring 13 of the 14 batters she faced. But Muncy did enough and now gets to keep working. That is the way those players like it.

“It’s exciting. We’ve been working really hard for it,” Stugart said. “We’re all excited and hopefully we can go all the way.

CV 001 100 0–2 7 2

Muncy 350 000 x–8 7 2

Ashleigh Southard and Hayley Murphy. Kat Ebner and Makenna Snyder. W–Ebner, (18-3). L–Southard.

Top CV hitters: Jenna Romano 2-3; Karmen Short 1-3, R; Southard 1-3; Amaya Walker 1-3, 2B, RBI. Top Muncy hitters: Annabelle Bergey 2-3, 2 R; Ebner 1-3, RBI, R; Lyndsi Stugart 2-2, 3B, RBI, 2 R; Snyder 1-2, 3 RBI; Monique Woodring 1-3, 2B, R.

Records: Muncy 18-3. CV 11-11.

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