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Schuler, South blank Wyalusing 10-0 in District 4 Class AA playoffs

By GARRETT CARR 4 min read

Over a week, and days of seemingly never-ending rain, had passed by since South Williamsport had last played a game - a 7-1 win over Mifflinburg on May 15. But you wouldn't have been able to tell that they'd had such a long layoff.

South Williamsport showed no signs of rust, easily dispatching Wyalusing 10-0 in five innings behind stellar pitching from Alizabeth Schuler and great situational hitting all the way through the lineup in the District 4 Class AA semifinals at Elm Park on Saturday.

"Yeah, I mean, it's the same for everybody -- Mother Nature's been a little inconsistent. I think this was our 10th day off, so we just tried to stay sharp," South Williamsport coach Tom O'Malley said. "We had an intersquad scrimmage and tried to replicate game speed. The kids worked hard during that stretch, knowing we had to be at the top of our game today in the playoffs. It was all about getting good reps and good work habits."

South Williamsport put constant pressure on the Ram defense, scoring in every inning. And, they were seemingly always on offense, as Schuler needed an unbelievable 42 pitches to get 15 outs. Those quick innings in the field allowed the Mountie offense to really build momentum.

"(Schuler) was phenomenal. She didn't have a single inning where she threw double-digit pitches -- every inning was under 10. That really helps your defense stay locked in and ready," O'Malley said. "She had really good command today, moving the ball in and out and changing speeds. And that's vintage Alizabeth right there, you know. She makes our team go and obviously she was very, very good today."

Schuler allowed just one hit, a triple to the second batter of the game. From that point on, she retired fourteen straight hitters, not allowing a baserunner the rest of the game.

At the plate, the Mounties excelled with runners on base. They moved runners effectively as every player contributed. Senior catcher Lily Reidy led the way with a 3-3 day, driving in two runs.

"Top to bottom, I have faith in everybody in the lineup to get a hit, string hits together, and that's what we did today. We worked as a team.We Had good situational hitting. and we produced," Reidy said.

Reidy drove in the team's first run in the bottom of the 1st, hitting a ball through the left side of the infield to score Mikiaya Hills. Then in the second, Emily Holtzapple drove in Sage Lorson, who had singled to start the inning with a sacrifice fly and Gianna Goodman brought in Abby Lorson, who reached on an error.

After adding a run in the third to go up 4-0, they scored two more in the fourth inning. Goodman singled with one out, Hills reached on error, Schuler hit a sacrifice groundout, and Reidy drove in another run to extend the lead to 6-0 through four.

The fifth inning finally resulted in a big inning for South Williamsport, an inning that felt like it was coming for the entire game. Sage Lorson off with a double, Maddie Pinkerton reached on a one-out walk, and a sacrifice groundout by Holtzapple and back-to-back two-out singles by Hills and Schuler put the game into the mercy rule.

Only one team advances out of the District 4 Class AA bracket this year to states, so the defending state runner-ups are playing do-or-die softball the rest of the way. But they're trying not to think about that.

"You just have to go out there and have fun. We're a family out there and you just have to play it that way and just have each other's back If you get down, you've got to just pick each other up and try to get that next run in," Reidy said.

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