Playing her final home game, senior shortstop Brenna Beck scored the winning run when Payton Pennycoff hit a walk-off sacrifice fly as Williamsport rallied for a dramatic, 6-5, nine-inning win against South Western in the opening round of the 6A state tournament. Ashlyn Robinson threw a gutsy nine-hitter and hit a game-tying RBI grounder after Kinsley Cannode and Beck opened the ninth with singles.

Pennycoff’s sacrifice fly down the right field line gave Williamsport both its fifth final at-bat victory this season as well as its first state tournament win since 2022. The Millionaires (19-3) erased a two-run sixth inning deficit and a one-run ninth inning deficit and head to the quarterfinals where they will play Owen J Roberts Thursday.

“It’s a bit emotional. It’s my first win in states and it’s an amazing feeling,” Beck said while shedding happy tears. “We’ve been preparing for this since Day 1. Our goal was to get into states and keep chipping away at these good teams.”

Williamsport beat an excellent team which reached the 2024 state semifinals, showing its trademark toughness and clutch play. Beck collected three hits, Cannode hit a two-run, game-tying sixth inning triple and Robinson struck out seven. Fellow seniors Emma Vollman (third base) and Isabella Reddy (right field) made excellent plays and the seniors literally walked into the sunset victorious in their final game at Millionaire Mountain.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Brenna Beck crosses the plate to score the winning run during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

They had a lot of help, too from the underclassmen. Pennycoff delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly, Kate Solomon ignited the game-tying rally and Zaelana Minor made a Roberto Alomar like catch at second base. A close-knit team again became a winning team because all significantly contributed.

“Letting us continue on, it definitely meant a lot. It’s so great,” Cannode said. “We’re the first team in four years to win in states, so that’s awesome that we continue to another game to play with this amazing team. It was such a close game and such a battle and I’m so glad we won.

“For these four seniors to play a state game on their home field and win an extra inning state game on a walk-off is just unbelievable,” Williamsport coach Scott Stugart said. “To get to the quarterfinals and be in the Final 8 is big.

“That seems to be part of our story this year. We have that hit or that inning where a couple people come through like that, and it just gets everything started and from then on it’s contagious.”

Pennycoff caught the bug at the perfect time, living a hitter’s dream in the ninth inning and producing the winning run. Cannode and Beck singled and Beck went to second on the throw to third following her single. Robinson then scorched a grounder to second base which would have won the game if not for a fabulous stop as Cannode scored the tying run.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Western's Brook Thomas throws during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against Williamsport on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

The game tied, 5-5, Pennycoff again validated why Williamsport coaches moved her to No. 5 in the lineup following a strong early start this season. After falling behind 0-2, Pennycoff brilliantly executed, staying with an outside pitch and hitting her flyball toward the right field line. A running catch was made, but Beck tagged and easily scored, sliding home and she and her teammates could keep on running right into the Elite 8.

“I was hoping to hit it to the oufield because I knew on a pop fly that Brenna would score because it’s Brenna. It felt great. It was really exciting,” Pennycoff said. “I was hoping for the best. There was only one out, so I wasn’t really worried because Brielle (Thornton) was coming up after me and can hit and so can everyone else on the team.”

“As soon as I saw the way the right fielder was tracking the ball I knew 100 % I was going to get there,” Beck said. “I went through the roof (after scoring). My first instinct was to go to Payton. It was a big moment and for her as a freshman, it’s huge.”

Delivering in huge moments has become a Williamsport staple this season and the Millionaires made their move in the sixth inning after falling behind, 4-2. Solomon hit a lead-off single and Vollman a one-out single, setting the stage for Cannode. As would be the case on her ninth inning single, Cannode fell behind 0-2, but stayed calm.

The sophomore center fielder fouled off a pitch and worked a full count. She then delivered her latest big hit and belted a two-run triple off the left-center field fence, only a wind blowing in keeping the ball in the park. The Millionaires had been searching for a timely hit after leaving runners on third base with one or no outs the two previous innings and Cannode’s triple was a game-changer in more ways than one.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Ashlyn Robinson throws during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

“I just wanted to keep passing the bat and do anything I could for my team. That was the only thing going through my head. It was definitely a good spark,” Cannode said. “We have been down before. I knew we could come back, and it was just really awesome that I could do that for my team.”

South Western scored an unearned two-out run in the ninth when Laney Lippy hit a two-out RBI single, but Robinson was her usual strong-willed self, stranding the final runner. Olivia Bateman gave South Western a 2-1 lead with a third-inning, two-run home run and an RBI single in the fifth, along with an RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth made it, 4-2.

Still, Robinson stayed calm and contained a powerful offense which scored 11 runs in its last game from there, allowing just one more hit. The senior retired six straight in the seventh and eighth innings and threw just 24 pitches over the final four innings, keeping her team in the game.

“I just think Ashlyn hits spots really well and that really helps her,” Pennycoff said. “If you can hit your spots that benefits you in the long run; that and first-pitch strikes. Ashlyn always has been good at that, so starting on top helps.”

Williamsport started on top in the bottom of the first inning when Vollman walked, stole second and scored on Beck’s RBI double. After South Western took its first lead, Williamsport answered in the third inning when Cannode again likely missed out on a home run due to the wind blowing in but reached third when the ball was dropped. Robinson tied it two batters later with an RBI single.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Ashlyn Robinson throws during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

Seven Williamsport players produced hits and the balance spread to the field where different players kept making fabulous plays which were every bit as critical to winning as the hits and pitching. Beck threw out a runner trying to score to close the sixth and keep it, 4-2. She and Vollman both made tremendous diving stops which would make Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson smile turning two potential hits into quick seventh inning outs.

Minor stayed with a tricky pop up in no man’s land in shallow right field an inning later, saving a potential lead-off single. Put it all together and the coaching staff, which gives out decals for great defensive plays may have had to stock up following the game.

“Everybody talks about the pitching and the hitting but they forget about the defense,” Stugart said. “We have special decals for certain things but have a special stickers for web gems. We don’t pass out as many (fielding) ones many as the other ones but we’re always happy to hand those out … We’re going to have a few today.”

Let the stickers flow because Stugart can look at any player and point to her making a vital contribution Monday. It was not about the seniors, or underclassmen. It was about them all coming together and making something special happen.

Again.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Zaelana Minor returns to third after attempting to score on a bunt during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

“That’s just our whole chemistry; that’s our history even in the past few years,” Beck said. “We really chip away, inning by inning. That’s what we go by. These are the best moments.”

Williamsport 6,

South Western 5

(9 INNINGS)

South Western 002 011 001―5 9 2

Williamsport 101 002 002―6 11 2

Ashlyn Robinson and Payton Pennycoff. Brooke Thoman and Zoe Wilkinson. W―Robinson, (17-3). L―Thoman.

Top South Western hitters: Olivia Bateman 3-5, HR, 2 RBIs; Gracie Harden 2-5, RBI. Top Williamsport hitters: Brenna Beck 3-5, 2B, RBI, run; Kinsley Cannode 2-5, 3B, 2 RBIs; Robinson 2-5, 2 RBIs; Emma Vollman 1-4, BB, 2 runs; Pennycoff 1-4, RBI; Zaelana Minor 1-4, 3B; Kate Solomon 1-4, run.

Records: Williamsport (19-3), South Western (18-8).

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Western's Olivia Bateman crosses the plate after hitting a home run in the third inning of the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against Williamsport on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport shortstop Brenna Beck snags a bouncing ball in the infield during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Kinsley Cannode and head coach high five after Cannode hit a two run triple during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport catcher Payton Pennycoff makes the out at home to end the top of the sixth inning during the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport players react after winning the PIAA Class 6A playoff game against South Western on Monday at Millionaire Mountain. Williamsport won 6-5 in nine innings.