ST. MARYS — For Smethport, a district championship wasn’t quite in the cards.
The DuBois Central Catholic Lady Cardinals rode the arm of freshman pitcher Riley Assalone and some timely hitting late in the game to beat the Lady Hubbers 4-0 in the District 9 Class A softball title game Thursday at St. Marys High School.
The win marks the first time DCC has won a district championship in softball since 1981.
“I thought they were going to make adjustments and they did,” said Smethport coach Dr. Jim Kane, referencing the 7-2 victory Smethport had over DCC earlier in the season. “They did what they had to do to win.”
All is not lost, however, for Smethport, as they still move on to the state playoffs, where they will meet WPIAL (District 7) champion Neshannock Monday at a site and time to be determined.
Sara McNally’s RBI double in the fourth turned out to be the only run DCC needed, as Assalone was able to keep the potent Smethport offense at bay.
She allowed just three hits and a pair of walks, but Smethport still had its chances early in the game.
The Lady Hubbers had runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, but, unlike their previous two playoff games, weren’t able to capitalize.
Torri Johnson led off the game with a five-pitch walk and immediately stole second base.
Assalone was able to get Smethport’s 2-3-4 hitters — Quinn Burdick, Brooke Kane-Walker and Sarah Vinca in order, however, to end the threat.
In the second inning, Smethport had two runners on, as Nicole Nolte and Tierra Johnson singled with one-out to put runners on first and second.
Abby Wilber followed with a fielder’s choice, which resulted in pinch-runner Lindsay Jack getting thrown out a third, and Assalone induced a pop-up from Katie Burdick to end the threat.
“That definitely made a difference,” Kane said of not taking advantage of the early chances. “We had the opportunities and we didn’t capitalize and that came back to bite us — in the dentist vernacular.”
Torri Johnson once again reached with a walk to start the third inning, but was thrown out by DCC catcher Jordy Frank.
The Lady Cardinals, on the other hand, were able to push across their run in the fourth with some two-out lightning, as Kayla Bitner doubled off starting pitcher Brooke Kane-Walker and scored on McNally’s double after Kane-Walker had struck out Assalone.
“They moved up in front of the box and were hitting the ball before it broke,” said Kane of DCC’s adjustments they made from the first time the two squared off this season.
The Lady Cardinals tacked on three more runs in the fifth, with the big blow being a towering two-run home run off the bat of Kylee Schaffer that made the score 4-0.
“You’re only as good as you’re starting pitcher,” Kane said. “Brookie was a little tired today (pitching on back-to-back days) and they got to her in the end.”
SMETHPORT (0)
(AB-R-H-RBI) To. Johnson (C) 1-0-0-0, Q. Burdick (RF) 3-0-1-0, B. Kane-Walker (P) 3-0-0-0, T. Transue (3B) 3-0-0-0, S. Vinca (2B) 3-0-0-0, N. Nolte (DP) 3-0-1-0, L. Jack (PR) 0-0-0-0, Ti. Johnson (CF) 3-0-1-0, A. Wilber 2-0-0-0, A. Larson (LF) 0-0-0-0, K. Burdick (PH-RF) 2-0-0-0
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC (4)
J. Frank (C) 3-0-1-0, M. Hanes (LF) 3-1-1-1, K. Schaffer (SS) 3-1-1-2, K. Bitner (3B) 3-1-1-0, R. Assalone (P) 3-0-0-0, S. McNally (DP) 3-0-2-1, T. Sayers (PR) 0-0-0-0, S. Liddle (1B) 2-0-0-0, G. Caruso (PH) 1-0-0-0, L. Mauer (CF) 3-1-1-0, B. Clyde (2B) 1-0-0-0
Smethport 000 000 0 — 0
DuBois C.C. 000 130 x — 4
2B — Frank (D), Bitner (D), McNally (D); HR — Schaffer (D); LOB — Smethport 4, DuBois Central Catholic 4; Errors — Smethport 2; DuBois Central Catholic 2; SB — To. Johnson (S), Ti. Johnson (S), Frank (D); CS — To. Johnson (S); Double Plays — DuBois Central Catholic 2 (Clyde-Liddle 2)
IP H R ER BB SO
Smethport
Kane-Walker 6 7 4 4 0 6
DuBois C.C.
Assalone 7 3 0 0 2 4
