Fast-finishing Braves advance to semifinals

May 20—SUNBURY — Shikellamy pitcher Shanna Kimball sometimes isn't sharp at the start of games, or the Braves' potent offensive attack doesn't take its best swings early on.

However, as West Scranton quickly found out in Monday's Districts 2/4 Class 5A quarterfinal at John O. Long Field, if you don't get to the Braves early, you're probably not getting them at all.

Kimball escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the first inning on her way to retiring 14 straight Invaders, and the Braves' offense exploded in the third inning as Shikellamy won, 9-1.

"I feel like the first inning we were all a little jittery," Kimball said. "After that, we got into the groove."

West Scranton (9-12) got a leadoff double from Julia Farkaly, who was then bunted to third. Amelia Noll struck out, but the ball went to the backstop. Noll reached first, and Farkaly scored from third for a 1-0 Invader lead. Kimball then walked the next hitter and hit a batter to load the bases.

Back-to-back groundouts — the first which got a force out at home — ended the Invaders' threat and allowed Kimball to settle in. The junior righty retired 14 straight batters, and only a leadoff single in the sixth inning prevented her from retiring the final 20 hitters in a row. She struck out two, walked one and hit batter, and the Braves were flawless behind her.

Kimball needed just 73 pitches — 54 over the final six innings — in her complete game.

"Shanna's like a power pitcher. You have to get her in the first inning, like a Roger Clemens or somebody like that," Shikellamy coach Matt Slivinski said. "I think (West Scranton) came here really amped up, ready to play, and you could see that in the first inning."

Kimball added, "If I give up a run early, I don't get down. I trust my defense a lot behind me."

Shikellamy's anxiety also led to some early issues with West Scranton pitcher Amelia Noll and her changeup. Sydney Sinko tripled in the first with two outs, and Kianah Lenner singled to open the second, but the Braves couldn't really make a lot of hard contact. They eventually made their own break in the third inning, and it got the Braves' offense rolling.

Blaire Balestrini walked, and an error on a Gwen Wiest's grounder led to Balestrini aggressively taking third on the play to put runner on the corners. Sinko hit a grounder to third, and Balestrini broke for home. The third baseman was indecisive with the ball, and her thrown home was late for a 1-1 tie. Ella Oakes followed with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 2-1 lead. After a walk to Lenner, Ali Minnier ripped a two-run double down the left-field line to give the Braves a 4-1 lead.

"She was throwing was changeup, and we were popping it up a lot in the beginning," Minnier said. "Til we got ahold of it."

After an out and an error to start the fourth, Balestrini doubled to put runners at second and third. Wiest followed with a two-run single for a 6-1 lead. Sinko singled ahead of Oakes' two-run double, and Minnier capped the scoring with an RBI single to give the Braves a 9-1 lead..

Shikellamy improves to 13-7 on the season, and will travel to Pittston to face the top-seeded Patriots in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Pittston is led by Gia Adams, one of the state's top pitchers in Class 5A. The Patriots won the PIAA Class 5A state title in 2022, and lost in the district championship game last year to Abington Heights. Adams will enter Thursday's semifinals having allowed just five earned runs this season in total. She has struck out 221 hitters and walked just 10, and has 740 career strikeouts.

That said, the hard-hitting Braves had 11 hits off Adams in last year's semifinals. It's the only time Adams has allowed double figures in hits other than the first game of her freshman season.

"There is a couple of advantages for us. They haven't play for quite a while (May 16), and they had bye tonight and don't play until Thursday. We know what we are going to see," Slivinski said. "We hung five runs on them early last year. The whole preview in the Scranton Tribune this weekend was about how we hit her last year, so they're going to be prepared."

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DISTRICTS 2/4 CLASS 5A SOFTBALL

QUARTERFINAL

at John O. Long Field, Sunbury

NO. 4 SHIKELLAMY 9, NO. 5 WEST SCRANTON 1

West Scranton;100;000;0 — 1-2-3

Shikellamy;004;500;x — 9-10-0

Amelia Noll and Mia Tallo. Shanna Kimball and Sydney Sinko

WP: Kimball; LP: Noll.

West Scranton: Julia Farkaly, 1-for-3, double, run.

Shikellamy: Blaire Balestrini, 1-for-2, double, 2 runs; Gwen Wiest, 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Sinko, 2-for-4, triple, 2 runs, RBI; Ella Oakes, 1-for-3, double, run, 3 RBIs; Kianah Lenner, 1-for-4, run; Allison Minnier, 2-for-4, double, 3 RBIs; Natalie Keller, 1-for-3, double.