And while all that sounds unpleasant one must remember a key fact: They all felt exhilaration above anything else. It was not just that Loyalsock earned another championship, but how the Lancers did so which created these feelings every team member will long remember.

In what doubled as a HAC-III championship game, rivals Montoursville and Loyalsock put together a performance which would make any Hollywood script writer smile. After going back and forth all day, it was the Lancers who walked into the sunset.

Waller hit a game-tying home run, Wertz a walk-off single and Loyalsock edged Montoursville, 8-7 in nine riveting innings, securing both a District 4 Class AAA playoff spot and a share of a third consecutive league crown. Montoursville (10-5, 7-2) can also claim a part of that crown if it wins its league finale on May 15 against Bloomsburg.

“We were all backing each other up. We all had each other’s back,” Wertz said. “Nobody was down. We brought everybody up and we were locked in the whole time.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville players meet Avery Cozzi (26) at the plate after she homered during a high school softball game against Loyalsock on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

“We wanted this game. Losing the first time to them (6-4 last month) is a sickening feeling,” Waller said after earning the win and striking out eight in four gutsy innings. “As a rival you always want to beat them. Coming off that loss, and coming together as a team ties it together.”

After Waller torpedoed her game-tying home run to start the ninth inning, Shyla Fulp, who shined behind the plate, reached on an error, stole second and went to third on an ensuing error. With two bases open, Montoursville opted to walk Sofia Mileto (2 for 4) and Kinsie Phillips who had a big day, going 2 for 3 with a home run, double and four RBIs.

That set the stage for Wertz who has fought back from multiple injuries the two previous seasons. All that hard work coming back was for moments like the one which presented itself here. After working a 2-1 count, Wertz hit a hard grounder deep into the hole at second base. Even if no one was on base, Wertz still may have had a single, and with the speedy Fulp on third, it was a definite game-winner off the bat as jubilant Lancers flooded the field, celebrating one of the area’s most thrilling wins this year.

“When I was sitting in here all I said is she has to hit the ball to the second baseman because if she does, they’re never going to throw Shyla out at the plate,” Loyalsock coach Mark Godfrey said. “Some people don’t understand that part of the game. You want to hit it to that part of the field because they’re not going to throw you out from there and Maddie did a great job with that.”

“I was just trying to stay calm up there, taking deep breaths. Coach Stopper always is saying, ‘Breathe, Mo, we’re fine,'” Wertz said. “I was up there to make contact and hit it somewhere where Shyla could get home and score that run for us. It’s a great feeling. It’s like a sigh of relief. It’s like I could finally breathe.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Julie Friel throws for Montoursville during a high school softball game against Loyalsock on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

Both teams kept fans gasping for air all afternoon. While the scoreboard showed Loyalsock winning the game, there were no losers in this one with both teams rallying, never flinching and repeatedly delivering in crucial moments.

Montoursville third baseman Kayleigh Sheleman and second baseman Avery Cozzi literally were impossible to retire and put on quite a show by themselves. Sheleman went 5 for 5 with two home runs and Cozzi was 3 for 3 with two home runs, a double, two walks and five RBIs. Cozzi smashed a game-tying three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning and Sheleman a go-ahead blast an inning later as Montoursville nearly completed a season sweep.

“I was feeling good. The whole season, I feel like I’ve been seeing the ball well, but especially the last few weeks,” said Sheleman who is 7 for 7 in two games against Loyalsock. “It was just good to come out and show that my work in the offseason has really paid off.”

Both teams overcame multiple run deficits and Loyalsock remained unfazed after Sheleman gave Montoursville the ninth-inning advantage. A day after striking out 14 in a heart-breaking loss at Warrior Run, Waller followed Sheleman’s bomb by stranding two runners and striking out two more, keeping Loyalsock within striking distance. She then had an idea about how to ignite a game-tying or game-winning rally leading off the bottom of the ninth.

Waller was 0 for 4 at that point and, with the infield back, tried laying down a bunt for a hit. Never has the freshman been so happy that she missed. Four pitches later, Waller belted a missile-like line drive which cleared the right-center field fence and tied the game, 7-7. Waller homered earlier this season, but those were on fields without fences.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Sophia Miller throws for Loyalsock during a high school softball game against Montoursville on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

This was Waller’s first home run hit over the fence at the high school level. Talk about perfect timing.

“Thank God I missed it. That was a blessing. I was really just trying to do anything to get on,” Waller said. “I wasn’t worried about hitting a game-tying shot or anything. I was just trying to get on base to help my team.

“It felt amazing. It was awesome. That’s a top 10 moment.”

Cozzi experienced similar feelings throughout the game. The senior leader made two spectacular catches, one on a line drive, another hustling toward the right field line which saved multiple runs and gave Montoursville a shot at rallying late. After following a Sheleman first inning home run with one of her own, Cozzi tied the game 3-3 with a third inning RBI double and then came up huge in the seventh. After Julie Friel doubled and Sheleman singled, Cozzi launched her game-tying home run down the right field line, turning what already was a great game into an instant classic.

And while Loyalsock prevailed, Montoursville still has all its primary goals still out there. The Warriors have not won a league championship in the 2000s and can change that if they win their HAC-III finale before heading to districts.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock players rush to the plate to celebrate at the end of a high school softball game against Montoursville on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

“That would be great. That would just show that all our hard work has paid off,” Sheleman said. “We take a lot of time in practice on working on the little things and getting better each and every day. That would show that.”

Sheleman and Cozzi have been a Smash Sister duo at Short Park the past two seasons. This was the second straight game there that each hit two home runs. In those games they are a combined 13 for 16 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Sheleman started her monster day in the first inning when she walloped a mammoth home run well over the scoreboard beyond center field. Cozzi followed with a full-count homer to right-center field.

Even when Loyalsock pitched Sheleman especially well it did not matter as she muscled three consecutive singles following the first inning home run. Then the junior came through again in the ninth, sending her go-ahead homer into the trees beyond right-center field.

“Going into the at-bat I was just trying to put the ball in play and hit the ball hard,” Sheleman said. “Honestly, off the bat I didn’t think it was going over the fence, so it was a big shock. It was great. It was awesome.”

Phillips displayed similar power and answered Montoursville’s big first inning with a titanic three-run shot in the bottom of the first. The freshman first baseman drove that towering homer high into the trees beyond right-center field and the ball was still rising when it hit those branches. She again put Loyalsock ahead in the third inning, ripping a two-out RBI double into the gap after Fulp had doubled two batters earlier.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Kinsie Phillips rounds third after hitting a home run during a high school softball game against Montoursville on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

For a while it looked like that double might represent that game-winning RBI. Turns out the drama was just getting started. This was the sixth time in seven years Loyaslock won at least a share of a league title but how it did so this time might make this one its most memorable.

“That’s a great achievement as young as we are,” Godfrey said. “After that loss (Wednesday), to come back and win this one that’s what we’re most proud of. They battled the whole game.”

Loyalsock 8, Montoursville 7

(9 INNINGS)

Montoursville 201 000 301–7 10 4

Loyalsock 301 020 002–8 10 0

Julie Friel and Nevaeh Montoya. Sophia Miller, Easton Waller (5) and Shyla Fulp. W–Waller. L–Friel.

Top Montoursville hitters: Kayleigh Sheleman 5-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Avery Cozzi 3-3, 2 HR, 2B, 2 BB, 5 RBIs, 2 runs; Emily George 1-4, run; Friel 1-4, 2B, run. Top Loyalsock hitters: Kinsie Phillips 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 BB, 4 RBIs, run; Sofia Mileto 2-4, RBI, 2 runs; Maddie Wertz 2-5, 2 RBIs; Fulp 1-4, 2B, 3 runs; Easton Waller 1-5, HR, RBI; Addi Barowy 1-4; Jillian Kennedy 1-4.

Records: Loyalsock (10-5, 8-2 HAC-III), Montoursville (10-5, 7-2).

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Raigan Fredericks makes the tag at first on Loyalsock's Easton Waller during a high school softball game on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville players meet Kayleigh Sheleman (4) at the plate after she homered during a high school softball game against Loyalsock on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock players celebrate after Shyla Fulp (22) scores to end a high school softball game against Montoursville on Thursday, May, 1, 2025 at Short Park. Loyalsock won 8-7 in 9 innings.