Cambridge Springs softball rallies in seventh inning to beat Iroquois in D-10 semifinals

MEADVILLE — Cambridge Springs freshman Carly Cunningham had her first taste of playoff softball on Wednesday.

With the game on the line in the seventh inning, the gravity of the situation might have escaped her because of how locked in she was at the plate.

“When we were getting hits I was hoping to get up there to whack the ball,” said Cunningham with a smile. “I kept thinking 'yes, yes, yes' because that's what my dad always says. I was hoping to hit the ball and win the game.”

Cunningham ripped a single into shallow center field to drive in the winning run as Cambridge Springs rallied to beat Iroquois 6-5 in the District 10 Class 1A semifinals at Allegheny College.

Cambridge Springs (15-2) moves on to the D-10 championship on Monday against rival Cochranton at a site to be determined, while Iroquois ends the season 11-8.

The top-seeded Blue Devils raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first three innings before Iroquois started chipping away. Sydney Proper's two-run double in the fifth inning tied the score at four to swing the momentum toward the Braves.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Iroquois took its first and only lead of the game in the seventh. Baelyn Randolph led off with a walk and stole second base. With two outs, Grace Abele crushed a double to center field just out of the reach of a diving Kylee Miller.

Cambridge Springs had one last trip to the plate to keep its season going.

Exciting finish and pitching milestone

“I trust my team and I know they have my back,” said Cambridge pitcher Kayla Crawford, who went over 200 strikeouts for the season. “CC (Cunningham) came through in a big way and we're super excited.”

Crawford was tough in the circle all game and the team celebrated her milestone after the game.

“My main goal this year was 200 strikeouts and when I was halfway with 100 I knew it was possible,” Crawford said. “This is huge for me.”

All Crawford could do was watch as her spot in the order wasn't going to come up in the inning.

“I told the girls this is our time and let's show them what we are made of,” said Cambridge Springs coach Angie Mumford. “I know we have it in us on any given day with the top or bottom of the lineup to come through. We trust each other.”

The nerve-racking inning started with a groundout before Trinity Caldwell drew a walk. She went to second on a wild pitch before Morgan Dunton singled to put runners on first and third. Quinn Eaglen then singled to center to tie the game at five and put runners on second and third.

The tense moments continued as Phoenix Thomas had a pitch go to the backstop, but Dunton didn't want to risk it and stayed at third base. Then Jaydan Simmons put a bunt down, but Abele, the first baseman, fielded it right away and tagged out Simmons while staring at Dunton to make sure she didn't take off for the plate.

Cunningham didn't waste any time, however, as she hammered the first pitch she saw into the outfield.

“Carly had a lot of success choking and poking against Iroquois before and my assistant coach Abby Sallot reminded me before the game 'Carly choke and poke Carly choke and poke' and I believe in my assistant coach.”

Now the Blue Devils have one thing in mind after losing to Cochranton 1-0 and 4-1 earlier this season.

“Revenge tour”, said Mumford.

Pregame headache

Cambridge Springs almost escaped the 2-hour, 15-minute rain delay that affected the first game on Wednesday. The Blue Devils are just down the road so they were able to time when to arrive at Allegheny College with the first game going lone.

The team, however, didn't escape the effects of the storm.

“Well we got stuck on (Route) 19 coming over because of a downed power line,” Mumford said. “Our bus couldn't turn around so I was directing traffic while the girls video taped me directing traffic. Our day started like that but we made it.”

Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cambridge Springs beats Iroquois in District 10 softball thriller