South Williamsport softball was cool under playoff pressure
Trending
Elk Lake kept coming back. It even took a sixth-inning lead, but South Williamsport never buckled.
Although six freshmen starters were competing in their first state tournament, this is a tough, battle-tested team. Those freshmen competed at the Little League World Series three years ago. Older players like Aleigha Rieppel have competed in state tournaments in soccer and basketball this scholastic year.
The Mounties might take some hits but they hit back, too. They did again against Elk Lake, winning an 8-7 Class AA state tournament opener Monday at Elm Park. South (16-5) rallied from a one-run deficit in the sixth inning and Alizabeth Schuler left the go-ahead runs on base in the seventh. Now this tenacious team is headed to the state quarterfinals and plays Claysburg-Kimmel Thursday at Milesburg Little League Field.
"I think it helps us because we all know the potential everyone has within them. We use that and we know we have the defense," third baseman Lily Reidy after playing a stellar game and igniting the sixth-inning rally. "The bond we have together, that keeps us lifted up and keeps us going."
"I think this will be a game to look back on and know that if we do get down we can fight back and get back up there," left fielder Gianna Goodman said after going 2 for 3 with a home run. "It was really nerve-wracking, especially when they had runners on with first and second and two outs but I knew we could get it."
South will be playing in the state's Elite 8 for the first time since 2014 and for the first time as a Class AA team since 2006. The Mounties are a talented team, but this quarterfinal run has been as much about its resolve as its prowess. South also fought off a challenge from Muncy in the district championship when the Indians tied the game with two seventh-inning runs.
Unfazed, the Mounties answered in the bottom of the seventh with Claire Alexander hitting a lead-off single and scoring on Rieppel's walk-off sacrifice fly. This is a team accustomed to playing in big games, not just over the years, but throughout this season. Starting at Myrtle Beach, with five fiercely competitive games against elite competition, South tested itself throughout the season against quality opponents and its five losses are to larger school teams.
The value in that experience has become evident these last two playoff games.
"Those games we played earlier in the year, especially down South where we didn't know the teams and they were all quality teams, that helped a lot," South coach Tom O'Malley said. "That was all about getting us prepared for this time of year."
Hardened by those experiences, South has not flinched when pushed hard by Muncy and Elk Lake. Monday, the Warriors turned a 2-0 fifth-inning deficit into a 4-3 sixth-inning lead. The Mounties were five outs from elimination after Elk Lake opened the sixth with a groundout.
Again, when the pressure was turned high, South was at its best. Reidy, Kendall Cardone and Goodman hit consecutive singles and Claire Alexander produced her latest clutch hit, a two-run single. Rieppel followed with an RBI bunt single and Schuler rocked a two-run single. Just like that, South was up, 8-4.
"The team was still upbeat," Schuler said. "We were telling everyone to get loud and saying let's get on this pitcher and let's hit. Everybody 1-9 can hit."
That is one reason South remains confident, no matter the situation. These players know each other well, and they have frequently seen all of them produce timely hits throughout their softball journeys. Illustrating that point, eight starters this season are hitting .322 or higher and seven have hit home runs this season.
It's that belief and chemistry which has been forged throughout this demanding schedule which enables South to remain optimistic when times grow tough.
"All nine of us that bat, there's not a bad hitter in the lineup," Rieppel said following the district final. "Everyone can do a job, everyone can put the ball in play and it just gives us all the confidence knowing that there's going to be a hit somewhere along the line."
Claysburg-Kimmel presents South its latest challenge and it's a big one. Heck, they all are at this point of the season. Time will tell what the game provides, but South will rely on its bond which has been forged through the fire and which proved unbreakable against Elk Lake.
"It was back and forth, but all the teams are good now and that's to be expected," O'Malley said. "It's invaluable experience. I'm really happy that we came out on top by one. That's all you need is one more run then them and it was a great one to get."