Duo powered KC softball team
KENNEDY TWP — Talk about being strong up the middle.
Karns City softball pitcher Brandi Dunkle and second baseman Samantha Bly have been flexing their muscles for four years now.
Both played their final high school game Monday, a 4-1 loss to WPIAL champion Riverside in a first-round PIAA Class AA tournament contest.
It marked the first state playoff game in the Gremlins' 10-year softball history, with Dunkle and Bly a big part of making it happen.
"I don't know how I'm going to replace them," Karns City coach Mike Simpson said. "You can't replace them."
Both four-year starters, Dunkle and Bly served as co-captains and were the No. 3 and 4 hitters in the Gremlins' batting order.
Dunkle shared pitching duties with 2008 KC graduate Ashton Pakutz for three years before inheriting the mound duties this season, pitching all but four innings.
"I loved pitching all the time," Dunkle said. "It was fun, especially knowing I could depend on our defense. Our fielding was excellent all year."
Simpson agreed.
"Brandi learned to trust her defense. She threw strikes and let them do the work," the coach said.
Dunkle allowed only nine walks in 88 innings. She surrendered one home run and fashioned a 1.45 earned run average. She also struck out 112 and permitted only 54 hits.
Dunkle batted .434 (23-for-53) with 19 RBI and 15 runs scored. She struck out just twice and stole 10 bases.
"I've always loved pitching," Dunkle said. "This year, I stayed relaxed, ignored all the chatter and just hit my spots."
Bly batted .560 (28-for-50) with 13 extra-base hits. She led the Gremlins in batting average and her 24 runs, 23 RBI and 20 stolen bases led the team as well.
Bly committed only three errors at second base while recording 23 putouts and 38 assists.
"That's why we had her out there," Simpson said. "No matter how hard a ball was hit to the right side of the infield, Sam was going to be in front of it."
Bly has been playing softball since she was 10. She played modified fast pitch in Chicora and also played in Butler.
"I played with the Pittsburgh Predators for two summers and that helped develop my skills," Bly said.
Bly never hit below .444 in any of her four high school seasons."I've always been able to hit the ball," she said. "Just keep the head down and make solid contact. That philosophy's worked for me."Like Dunkle, Bly has been tough to strike out. She fanned only four times in her 50 at-bats."I don't think I've ever had a player hit the ball hard as consistently as Sam did," Simpson said.Both girls are looking to play more softball. Bly is going to St. Vincent College and will join a Bearcats team that finished 11-19 this year after winning a school-record 22 games in 2008.Dunkle is heading to the Naval Academy in January and hopes to play for the Navy's club team. The Naval Academy does not have a varsity softball team.Neither will soon forget being anchors on Karns City's first District 9 softball championship team."This year was our last year — and the best year," Dunkle said. "There's enough talented players coming back to win a couple more of those titles.""We went out the way we wanted to," Bly said. "Hopefully, the program will keep going."
