Claysburg-Kimmel uses long balls to stun Conemaugh Valley in District 6-1A softball
Three home runs brought it eight of Claysburg-Kimmel’s 13 runs in its 13-4 victory over Conemaugh Valley in Thursday’s District 6 Class 1A semifinal at Conemaugh Valley High School.
“They’re a good hitting team. They hit the ball hard,” Blue Jays coach Paula McCleester said. “We do too. They just got the better end this time.”
After a quiet first inning, the bats came alive in the second. Jaylee Swindell and Zakera Bush occupied first and second after two base hits when Savanna Crissman launched a three-run shot over the center-field fence to open the Bulldogs scoring.
Claysburg-Kimmel tallied another run in the fourth with McKenna Black’s sacrifice fly bringing in Bella Francona, who reached third when Conemaugh Valley left fielder Madalynn Stiffler had trouble corralling Francona’s base hit.
Meanwhile, Bulldogs starting pitcher Emalee Cavender gave the Blue Jays’ batters fits at the plate. By the fourth inning, she had six strikeouts and finished the game with nine.
“She’s been pitching like that all year. She’s the rock that holds us together,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Barbarini said. “She pitches her butt off all the time for us. She’s the leader of our team and she shows it every time she goes out on the mound.”
However, Julia Stiffler put an end to Cavender’s near-perfect game. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Stiffler cut the Bulldogs’ lead in half with a two-run blast. Cavender seemed unphased.
She followed the home run with back-to-back called strikeouts to close the inning and protect the lead. In the fifth, two walks and Swindell’s single loaded the bases for Claysburg-Kimmel. After just recently subbing into the game, Payton Hinish hit a grand slam in her first at-bat to put her team ahead 8-2.
“We worked all week with her hitting and I told her I was saving her for a certain situation. She did what we needed her to do,” Barbarini said. “She’s a big part of our puzzle, so anytime you have a hitter like that, that comes back and comes back healthy, it’s a big plus for your team.”
Hinish hit a grand slam in last year’s district championship game but missed the state tournament with season-ending surgery. McCleester said how one big play can swing the momentum of the game.
“You second guess what pitch you called. Absolutely,” McCleester said. “I expect us to go and answer back, (but) that’s a good team. We’re all quality teams and that’s just how it goes sometimes. You can’t complain. You’ve just got to try to go back after it.”
Conemaugh Valley continued to fight in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kylee Ferguson ripped a single to right field and Katie Ledwich followed with a two-run shot to cut the deficit in half again.
The Bulldogs didn’t let up. Swindell and Bush went back-to-back on hits to dive in three more runs for Claysburg-Kimmel leading into the final inning.
The Blue Jays failed to cut into the Bulldogs’ lead at the bottom of the sixth as Cavender found her groove again and retired the side in order.
Cavender hit a solo shot for Claysburg-Kimmel’s third home run of the game and Black drove in her team’s 13th run with a single at the top of the seventh. Cavender closed the game by allowing only one hit in the frame and recording her ninth strikeout of the contest.
