ST. MARYS — Needing six strikeouts to reach 100 strikeouts on the year, St. Marys pitcher Avery Eckels did just that in Thursday’s game against Elk County Catholic. In fact, Eckels notched the feat and got one more for good measure in a 13-3 win in five innings over the Lady Crusaders.
Eckels tossed all five innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and three walks in the win as she moved to 14-2 on the season with an ERA of 1.49 and the 101 strikeouts in 94 innings of work.
In a battle of crosstown rivals, St. Marys scored one in the first, three in the second and another in the third before a seven-run bottom of the fourth got the mercy rule finish firmly in play.
Kaylen Eozzo was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Leadoff hitter Addison Beimel was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Molly Hanslovan was also 2-for-4 with a run, a triple and two RBIs.
Gianna Surra and Kelsie Fledderman also had two hits each for the Lady Dutch as Jianna Gerg had a triple.
Elk County Catholic had seven hits compared to 13 from the Lady Dutch as they also had five errors on the afternoon as seven of the 13 St. Marys runs were unearned on the day.
Lady Crusader pitcher Emily Mourer took the loss, allowing 13 hits and 13 runs (six earned) in four and 2/3 innings while also allowing two walks and striking out two.
ECC’s leadoff hitter Lucy Klawuhn was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs while Sarah Hasselman had a double. Mackenzie Bille had the team’s other RBI.
St. Marys (15-2) has its final regular season game on Saturday as they host Cranberry at 1 p.m.
Elk County Catholic finished its regular season with a 14-5 mark and enter next week’s District 9 Class A playoffs as the two-seed.
They’ll play the winner of Monday’s No. 6 Oswayo Valley-No. 3 Northern Potter winner on Wednesday.
ST. MARYS 13,
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 3, 5 innings
Score by Innings
ECC 000 03 — 3
St. Marys 131 71 — 13
Two outs when winning run scored.
Elk County Catholic—3
Lucy Klawuhn ss 3122, Sydney Alexander 3b 3010, Bailey Thorwart 2b 2100, Emily Mourer p 2000, Alexa Uhl c 3010, Mackenzie Bille lf 3011, Kiri Emmert dp 1000, Reagan Bauer cf 2010, Sarah Hasselman rf 2110, Sofiya Cherry cr 0000, Alexa Chamberlin cr 0000. Totals: 21-3-7-3.
St. Marys—13
Addison Beimel cf 4222, Molly Hanslovan ss 4122, Kaylen Eozzo 1b 4231, Gianna Surra c 4020, Jianna Gerg 2b 4211, Avery Eckels p 3002, Kelsie Fledderman 3b 2220, Giuliana Muccio rf 2111, Sophia Surra lf 3100, Zoe Romanic cr 0100, Sidney Reider cr 0100. Totals: 30-13-13-9.
Errors: ECC 5, St. Marys 0. LOB: ECC 6, St. Marys 5. 2B: Hasselman. 3B: Gerg, Hanslovan. HR: Klawuhn. HBP: Fledderman (by Mourer).
Pitching
Elk County Catholic: Emily Mourer-4 2/3 IP, 13 H, 13 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 HB.
St. Marys: Avery Eckels-5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO.
Winning pitcher: Eckels. Losing pitcher: Mourer.
In other softball action:
Central Clarion 4,
Brockway 1
BROCKWAY — The Brockway Lady Rovers softball team fell to the Central Clarion Lady Wildcats, 4-1, on Thursday afternoon.
There were just nine hits in the game as Central Clarion outhit Brockway 5-4. However, the Lady Rovers also had four errors.
Lady Rover catcher Meeca Smith was 2-for-3 with an RBI double as Brockway scored its lone run in the bottom of the first inning and led 1-0 before Central Clarion tied it up in the top of the second and scored three more in the top of the fifth for the win.
Sophia Schmader and Eliza Powell had Brockway’s other hits.
Bailee Carberry took the loss, tossing all seven innings and allowing five hits, four runs (one earned) and seven walks while striking out four.
Brockway ends its season with a 6-14 record.
CENTRAL CLARION 4,
BROCKWAY 1
Score by Innings
C. Clarion 010 030 0 — 4
Brockway 100 000 0 — 1
Central Clarion—4
Abby Knapp-Greeley c 4000, Kaylee Smith p 1000, Alyssa Wiant 1b 3021, Samantha Simpson 2b 4110, Jenna Dunn ss 2110, Jesalyn Girt dp 4101, Alicyn Burford rf 4012, Alexa Kitchen lf 3100, Emileigh Mahle cf 3000. Totals: 28-4-5-4.
Brockway—1
Rheanna Spinda 1b 3000, Sophia Schmader ss 2110, Meeca Smith c 3021, Kaitlyn Knox ph 1000, Josie Orinko lf 2000, Isabella Patton cf 2000, Eliza Powell lf-rf 3010, Bailee Carberry p 2000, Mia Marchiori ph 1000, Kat Lindemuth 3b 1000, Lily Heilbrun 3b 1000, Sierra Fremer 2b 2000. Totals: 23-1-4-1.
Errors: C. Clarion 0, Brockway 4. LOB: C. Clarion 11, Brockway 3. 2BL Burford; Smith. HBP: Smith (by Carberry), Schmader (by Smith).
Pitching
Central Clarion: Kaylee Smith-7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HB.
Brockway: Bailee Carberry-7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 4 SO, 1 HB.
Winning pitcher: Smith. Losing pitcher: Carberry.
