PIAA SOFTBALL: Tri-Valley captures PIAA Class A state championship (copy)

Jul. 15—STATE COLLEGE — Tri-Valley's fans rose to their feet in unison — a BlackOut in full effect — anticipating another golden moment.

Seventh inning, three-run lead, but Union Area runners at first and second base. Tying run at the plate. A 1-2 count on the batter, Union designated player Olivia Benedict. Bulldogs senior pitcher Emma Maurer spinning the bright yellow softball in her right hand.

"Especially that last pitch when everybody stood up," Maurer said. "I was like, 'Oh, my God! This is it!' "

Like she has done so many times before, Maurer reached back for a little extra in the last game of her high school career.

Her sizzling riseball started high and climbed higher. Benedict swung and missed.

Strike three! Inning over! Ballgame over! Tri-Valley's quest for a second PIAA Class A softball championship in three seasons successfully completed.

Tri-Valley scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, then held off Union in the seventh to earn a 6-3 victory Friday in the title game at Penn State's Nittany Lion Softball Park.

The championship is the second in school history for the Bulldogs (24-2), who won the 2021 Class A crown with a 2-1 win over West Greene.

"To do it again and bring it home to Tri-Valley, it's amazing," senior shortstop Gianna Poletti said. "We have so many good supporters. Thank you to all of them."

The Tri-Valley/Union contest turned out to be the only championship ballgame played Friday at Penn State. The Class 3A and 5A softball title games got rescheduled for today, while the three baseball championship games (Classes AA, 4A and 6A) on Medlar Field at Lubrano Park got moved to today as well. PIAA officials gave both Union and Tri-Valley the choice to play Friday or today.

Steady rain overnight and in the early morning shut off around 9:30 a.m., giving way to cloudy skies that turned partly sunny in the early afternoon.

That window of dry weather gave the PSU grounds crew plenty of time to remove the white tarp that covers the entire dirt infield and manicure the playing surface, allowing the game to get under way just eight minutes after its scheduled 11 a.m. start time. Aside from pitchers asking for a dry ball from time to time, the weather played no major factor in the game.

Tri-Valley, which had left 10 runners on base through five innings, finally delivered in the sixth the key hits it had become accustomed to getting.

Speedster Cassi Snyder started the rally with a bouncer that the second baseman bobbled — just for a second. With Snyder, bobble or hesitate for a split second, and she's safe.

Grace Header squared around to bunt on the first pitch to move the Union fielders, and Snyder stole her second base of the game and 32nd of the season. On the next pitch, Header smashed a double to the gap in left-center, driving in Snyder for a 4-3 lead.

"She was an amazing pitcher, the other team," Header said of Union right-hander Mia Preuhs. "She did really good the entire time, I just think we had a little bit extra push to keep trying."

Added Tri-Valley coach Marty Shade: "Grace hit a rocket to left-center. She ripped that. Whew! ... It was a great shot, and that sort of sparked the team."

That brought senior catcher Brittany Rice, the Dawgs' most dangerous hitter, to the plate. Preuhs had fooled Rice with changeups in previous at-bats, but she threw one too many, and Rice launched a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field to extend the Dawgs' lead to 6-3. The dinger was Rice's 12th of the season.

"I double-loaded like three times before I hit that," Rice said with a laugh. "Everybody was chanting, and I was like, 'I cannot strike out, and I need to get this ball in play.' All the girls started the rally. I needed it to continue.

"I thought it was a little blooper," Rice added, "and then I looked up and it was no longer there."

Shade, coaching third base at the time, had some other thoughts running through his mind.

"Then the crowd ... our fans are amazing," Shade said. "We have a big pile of people here. They started yelling, 'Let's go Brit! Let's go Brit!' and I'm thinking she's going to try to hit it up to the football field (Beaver Stadium). Luckily, she got it up in the air."

Down to its final three outs, District 7 champion Union (20-4) didn't go quietly.

Olivia Williams, who went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, started the Scotties' rally with a single to center field. After a popout to Poletti for out No. 1, Addie Nogay walked on a close 3-2 pitch.

Preuhs, who scorched a solo home run earlier in the game, clubbed a line shot to left field. Fortunately for the Dawgs, the ball was right at Mia Artz, who secured the catch and ran the ball back toward the infield.

That brought Benedict to the plate and brought the Tri-Valley faithful to their feet. On the final pitch of her high school career, Maurer notched strikeout No. 11 for the day, and the celebration was on.

"I was really nervous," Maurer said through tears of joy. "I was shaking quite a bit, and I knew we just needed one more, so I put everything into that last pitch, and it worked."

Maurer (12-1), who missed more than five weeks due to a concussion after a freak accident with a thrown softball, worked out of several jams to limit the hard-hitting Scotties, who left eight runners on base.

Since her return in the District 11 semifinals, Maurer has gone 6-0 with a 0.78 ERA. In 36 innings, she allowed 18 hits, five runs (four earned), struck out 65 and walked 12.

"Emma didn't have her best stuff, but she knew how to fight through it," Shade said. "She's a warrior."

Preuhs (13-4) got herself in a lot of trouble and got herself out of most of it until the Dawgs dragged her into the deep water in the sixth inning. She had to throw 134 pitches (74 strikes) in six innings in the circle. Tri-Valley finished with just five hits, but the Dawgs walked nine times and got hit by pitches twice. Preuhs also struck out nine.

Tri-Valley used excellent plate discipline to score two runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Cassi Snyder reached on a one-out walk. With two outs, Rice roped a single to center field. When the fielder bobbled the ball, Snyder scored the first run of the game. Maurer walked, and Artz got hit by a pitch. Mady Schwalm then walked in an eight-pitch at-bat to force in Rice with the second run.

Union cut the deficit to 2-1 in top of the second on three hits, including a Baltimore chop single in front of the plate by Bella Cameron. Williams cashed in with an RBI single.

The Dawgs got that run back in the bottom of the second to push their lead to 3-1. Liv Lupole got hit by a pitch, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Cassi Snyder's infield single.

Union, getting the best swings of any opponent against Maurer, kept chipping away at the deficit.

In the third inning, Preuhs launched a solo home run well over the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 3-2.

In the fourth, the Scotties rapped two more hits to tie the game. Tori May worked a leadoff walk and took third on Cameron's single to right field. One out later, Williams singled to center field to drive in May. The throw came in to third base, and when courtesy runner Lorena Boice rounded the bag too far, Cassi Snyder slapped the tag on her for a key out.

The Dawgs' defense also played a part in the victory. Union hit a lot of balls hard and in difficult spots on the field, but Poletti seemed to be everywhere catching popups as Tri-Valley played error-free defense. Union finished with four errors.

"It means everything," said Poletti, off to join the Auburn University softball team. "It's going to be sad leaving these girls because they were a special bunch. They just never give up. When one of us is down, the other one picks us right back up. That's how this team is, and that's why I love them.

"They always have my back," she added. "They're my sisters."

Editor's Note: The following is a reprint of the game story from Tri-Valley's 6-3 win over Union Area in the PIAA Class A state softball championship game that appeared in the June 17 edition.

Contact the writer: blipsky@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6012; @boblipskyRH on Twitter