Flawless
STRATTANVILLE — Cortney Claypoole beamed at the thought of her jersey avoiding the washer for a few more days.
Teachers at Moniteau probably felt a little differently.
Before the Warriors played Karns City for the District 9 softball title Wednesday at Clarion-Limestone High School, teachers at Moniteau sported the players' jerseys during the school day.
Claypoole, who along with many of her teammates hasn't washed their jerseys since leaving Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in late March, said her jersey has a hum to it.
“(It smelled) pretty bad. We had our teachers wear them today,” Claypoole said. “They were like 'We wouldn't have showered had we known you didn't wash these things.'”
Her aunt, Mandy James, still wore it. Whether the superstition really works or not is debatable, but the Warriors continued their roll with a 7-1 win over the Gremlins.
Moniteau, which is now 20-0 and has already set the school record for wins, won the program's fourth district title and first since 2011.
The Warriors will play District 6 runner-up Philipsburg-Osceola in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Monday. Moniteau coach Dan Beebe said this group is unique compared with the championship teams that preceded them.
“Most of them haven't washed their jerseys since late March,” Beebe said. “That's also a first, this team is very superstitious. Twenty and 0, it's working for us. I wouldn't wash a win, either.”
Sara Hull said her jersey isn't too bad. She won't spray it with anything, though.
“It has to have the same smell as the last game we won,” Hull said.
The tradition started due to lack of options. Then the Warriors returned to Pennsylvania and kept winning.
“We didn't have a lot of dryers and washers, so we didn't wash them,” Claypoole said. “It's something we do. It's fun. It keeps us all together.”
The Warriors stayed together against Karns City (9-4). The Gremlins loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and no outs in the seventh and came away with no runs.
“That was something we struggled with all year,” Karns City coach Jim Gibson said. “We couldn't come up with the big hit. A couple big hits there and it's a different ball game.”
Kennedy DeMatteis, who struck out six in seven innings of work to earn the win for Montieau, gave up a single to Jordan Downs before hitting Alyssa Gibson with a pitch to start the seventh. LeeAnn Gibson then drew a walk to load the bases.DeMatteis got Brittany Coyle to fly out and Taylor Downs to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game.“We worked on defense all week because we figured playing this team a second time they were going to put the ball in play,” Beebe said. “The games are going to get harder the farther you move on.”The Warriors went ahead 3-0 in the second inning with a barrage of singles and small ball. Kristina DeMatteis and Claypoole started with back-to-back singles.Hull followed by lacing a single down the third-base line, scoring DeMatteis.Taylor Hasychak picked up an RBI with a sacrifice bunt and Hull scored when Kayla Campbell reached on an error.Taylor Downs scored the Gremlins' only run in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-1. She led off with a double and scored when Kristina DeMatteis' pick-off attempt hit the batter.Moniteau answered with four more runs in the sixth to seal the win.Claypoole's hoping the Warriors can pick up their first-ever PIAA win. She wants her jersey to stay out of the washer.“We're looking forward to proving people wrong,” Claypoole said. “A lot of people didn't think we were going to come out here and excel like we have been.”Karns City 000 001 0 — 1 4 3Moniteau 030 004 x — 7 10 1W: Kennedy DeMatteis 7IP (6K, 2BB). L: LeeAnn Gibson 6IP (0K, 0BB).Karns City (9-4): Ashley Coon 2B, Taylor Downs 2 1B, Jordan Downs 1B.Moniteau (20-0): Gabby Stewart 2 1B, Kristina DeMatteis 1B 2B, Cortney Claypoole 1B, Sara Hull 1B, Kennedy DeMatteis 2 1B, Taylor Hasychak 1B, Kayla Campbell 1BMonday: Moniteau vs. Philipsburg-Osceola, PIAA Class AA first-round, site and time to be determined.
