CALIFORNIA, Pa. — Extraordinary pitching and extraordinary plays added up to an extraordinary victory Thursday for the Mars varsity softball team.

Monica Glomb struck out 12, sophomore pinch-runner Casey Parrish's daring baserunning helped produce two runs and sophomore third baseman Autumn Barber's diving catch in the seventh inning stifled an Ambridge rally as the Planets defeated the Bridgers, 2-1, in the WPIALClass AAAchampionship game at California (Pa.) University's Lilly Field.

The win — Mars' 19th in 20 games — marked the first WPIALtitle in the program's 16-year history. The loss snapped a 20-game winning streak for Ambridge, the defending WPIALand state champion.

"This is a dream come true for me,"said Mars coach Michele Goodworth, a pitcher on the Planets' first softball team in 1990.

That dream nearly turned into a nightmare a couple of times.

With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Mars' Brie Berkopec singled to center and Kyla Ferguson singled to left against Ambridge pitcher Amy Joy.

With first and second occupied and no outs, the Planets didn't have Hannah Taggart attempt a sacrifice bunt. Instead, she hit a short pop fly that right fielder Kellee Meder caught in foul territory.

Parrish, running for Berkopec at second base, hesitated before tagging up and trying to reach third on the play.

"I had to think about it a little bit,"Parrish said. "In a big game like this, I didn't want to make a mistake.

"Once I was running, I thought I was gonna be out for sure. I waited too long."

Goodworth thought the same thing.

"All I was thinking was, Just get over here and slide,'"she said. Goodworth also serves as Mars' third-base coach.

Meder relayed the ball to second baseman Liz Decima, whose throw sailed over the third baseman's head. Parrish got up from her slide and scored while Ferguson advanced to third.

Glomb's two-out single to center scored Ferguson for a 2-0 Mars lead.

"I never even saw the bad throw. I never saw the ball,"Parrish said. "All I heard was our dugout screaming at me to run home."

The error was the only one committed by Ambridge.

"With two quality pitchers and two teams that put the bat on the ball, a fielding error was going to play a factor in this game,"Ambridge coach Jim Huwar said. "They made us pay for it."

Glomb took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but Decima broke it up by hitting a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to pull her team within a run.

Mars loaded the bases in the seventh on singles by Ferguson and Taggart and a two-out intentional walk to Glomb. Emma Wharrey hit a fly ball to shallow right field that Meder held on to despite colliding with the second baseman.

Ambridge did not go quietly in the seventh. Lisa Coyle led off with a bunt single and Tricia Gorman followed with a single to center.

Katrina Gross tried bunting the runners over, but Barber made a diving catch of her foul-ball bunt in front of the Mars dugout.

Glomb struck out the final two hitters to end the game.

"That catch was huge,"Glomb said. "Autumn saved the game. If they get a bunt down there ... we're in trouble."

Mars had eight hits in the game — the most hits allowed in a game by Joy all season. Glomb's 12 strikeouts marked the most times Bridger batters fanned in a game as well.

"They beat us at our own game,"Huwar said. "Moving runners over, aggressive baserunning, taking advantage of mistakes — we've won a lot of games that way this year.

"We didn't show enough discipline at the plate. Monica was bringing the pitches in high and we kept swinging at them."

Ambridge entered the game sporting a .306 team batting average and averaging 7.6 runs per game. Glomb limited the Bridgers to three hits.

The last WPIAL team championship at Mars came in 2000 in girls soccer.

Ambridge 000 001 0—1 3 1Mars 000 200 x—2 8 1WP: Monica Glomb (7 IP) 12 strikeouts, 0 walks. LP: Amy Joy (6 IP) 3 strikeouts, 2 walks

Ambridge (20-2): Liz Decima HR, Lisa Coyle 1B, Tricia Gorman 1B

Mars (19-3): Brittany Berkopec 1B, Brie Berkopec 1B, Kyla Ferguson 3-1B, Hannah Taggart 1B, Monica Glomb 2-1BRBI

Monday: PIAATournament:Mars vs. Punxsutawney-Clearfield winner, site, time TBA