District 9 softball: St. Marys bats too much for Karns City in Class 3A title game
DUBOIS — Opposing teams found it difficult to keep up with Karns City softball’s bats this season.
In Monday’s District 9 Class 3A championship game against Saint Marys, the Gremlins found themselves on the other end of that scenario.
The Dutch tallied 15 hits, scoring a combined six runs on eight knocks in the fifth and sixth innings, in a 9-7 defeat of KC at Heindl Memorial Field.
“This (high-scoring) game is exactly what I thought it would be,” KC coach Mike Grazioli said. “I knew it would be a slugfest. It’s just a shame we came up short. It was just a little too much for us to overcome.”
The Gremlins (14-6) received a shot in the arm when pitcher Addison Burrows allowed the first two runners on in the top of the seventh inning via a walk and a base hit, but stranded runners at second and third to keep her team’s deficit at just two runs.
Carley Conto then led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single, her fourth hit of the day. But three outs followed to end the game.
It is the second straight year that Saint Marys topped KC for the district crown.
Avery Eckels was the winning pitcher in a 7-6, nine-inning win last year, and her graduation had the Dutch scrambling to find pitching this spring.
Coach Matt Eckels elected to start junior Kelsie Fledderman in the circle on Monday. She entered the game with a 1-4 record and 5.30 ERA.
“She did not pitch for us last year and we had to prepare her for that role,” Eckels said. “We had to find the right combination with all of our pitchers.
“Kelsie’s got a good head, doesn’t get rattled … The kind of personality you need to have to pitch in a game like this. I saw one of Karns City’s games this season. They can hit.”
And the Gremlins, who scored at least 10 runs in nine games this season, greeted Fledderman with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Aubrey Taylor singled home two runs and Conto’s base hit brought in another.
But Saint Marys, which carried a .333 team batting average into the game, stormed back to tie the score against Burrows in the next half inning, with Sophia Surra’s RBI-triple serving as the biggest blow.
Burrows entered the top of the fifth with a 4-3 lead after she and Nicole Huff smacked back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth.
But the Dutch chased her from the circle, thanks to Molly Hanslovan’s run-scoring triple and Kaylen Eozzo’s RBI-base hit that put the Gremlins down 5-4.
Reliever Abigail Dunlap escaped the inning with no further damage, leaving the bases loaded. But she, too, ran into trouble in the Dutch’s four-run sixth frame.
Burrows, who had moved to play second base, returned to the circle with one out in the inning, after which KC trailed 9-4.
“Both of our pitchers have been dealing with injuries,” Grazioli said. “It’s been that way for a lot of the season.
“Saint Marys played a tough schedule this year. Their record (10-7) does not indicate how good they are. I told our players that we needed to play well to win today. We’d have our hands full.”
The Gremlins did not go quietly. They plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth, with Huff and Taylor driving in all of the runs on consecutive base hits.
Fledderman allowed seven runs on 11 hits, but got outs when they mattered most.
Taylor drove in four runs for KC and Burrows had three hits.
Saint Marys 030 024 0 — 9 15 2
Karns City 300 103 0 — 7 11 2
WP: Kelsie Fledderman 7 IP (5K, 1BB)
LP: Addison Burrows 5.2 IP (2K, 2BB)
Saint Marys: Addison Beimel 2-1B 2R RBI, Molly Hanslovan 2-1B 3B 2R 2RBI, Kaylen Eozzo 1B R RBI, Giuliana Muccio 2B R 2RBI, Kelsie Fledderman 2-1B, Alison Mertz 2-1B, Sophia Surra 1B 3B R RBI
Karns City: Addison Burrows 2-1B 2B 3R, Nicole Huff 1B 2B 2R 2RBI, Aubrey Taylor 2-1B R 4RBI, Carley Conto 4-1B RBI
