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#1 Northern Lebanon 13, #8 East Pennsboro 3
After securing the #1 seed, Northern Lebanon hosted #8 East Pennsboro in a 4A Quarterfinal matchup on Monday afternoon. With an offensive explosion in the Bottom 5th, where the Lady Vikings put up six runs, the game would be shortened on account of the mercy rule.
The scoring began in the 1st inning, Olivia Shutter doubled before Addison Kubica drove her home two batters later. East Pennsboro then responded when they got their turn in the Top 2nd, putting up three runs to take a 3-1 lead.
The Panthers’ time in the lead did not last long, as a pair of RBI singles by Shutter and Lynsie Mauser would give Northern Lebanon a 4-3 advantage. Later in the frame, Stephanie Palkovic reached on an error, along with two more runs to score.
The score would remain 6-3 until the Bottom 4th when Alyssa Shirey singled home Mauser. This set up a 5th inning where the Vikings would put the game away for good.
The scoring in the Bottom 5th began with Addison Hollenbach hitting a line drive to center, allowing M West to score. Shutter then hit a sacrifice fly, which allowed Ryleigh Hopkins to score. Mauser then singled to score Hollenbach, followed by a Kubica single and a Palkovic walk before Shirey singled to score Mauser and Kubica. When Mykenah Johnson’s grounder forced an error, Palkovic scored to end the game.
Mauser pitched all 5 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 ER), and 6 hits, while recording 4 Ks. She also led the way offensively, going 3-4 with 3 RBI & 3 runs scored.
Hollenbach (1-4, RBI, 2 R, SB), Shutter (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R), and Kubica (2-3, BB, 1 RBI, 2 R) joined Mauser in providing a strong punch at the top of the lineup. Shirey, batting 6th in the order, was 2-4 with 3 RBIs.
Northern Lebanon (17-2) will face ELCO in Thursday’s District Semifinals. In addition to punching their ticket to the Championship Game, the winner will also clinch a State Playoff berth.
#5 ELCO 11, #4 Middletown 3
In the 4A Quarterfinals, the #5 Raiders visited the #4 Blue Raiders. ELCO led 2-1 entering the 4th before the Raider bats started connecting, leading to crooked numbers being put on the scoreboard over the course of the next three innings. After scoring two runs in the 3rd, ELCO benefitted from a three-run home run by Gabby Smith in the 4th to give them a 5-1 lead. They then took advantage of some miscues by Middletown in the 5th inning to build an 8-1 lead. Middletown got one run back in their turn at the plate. In the 6th, a Chloe Shirk triple scored one run before she was granted passage home on a Justine Gleyer single. ELCO tacked on one more in the 7th to make it 11-2.
Smith pitched all 7 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits. She struck out 13.
Morgan Wilson and Kenzie Deeks each had an RBI, joining Smith, Shirk, & Gleyer as the Raiders who drove runs across home plate.
With the upset win, ELCO (16-5) will now face Northern Lebanon in Thursday’s District Semifinals. In addition to punching their ticket to the Championship Game, the winner will also clinch a State Playoff berth.
