By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUBOIS, PA – After completing a phenomenal regular season and making it to the District 9 Class A postseason once again, the Otto-Eldred softball team’s road to the finals came to an abrupt end, losing to DuBois Central Catholic 9-0 in the semifinals.
Through the 19 games of the regular season, the Lady Terrors were practically untouchable, finishing 17-2 that saw 15 wins in a stretch of 16 contests. However, their impressive efforts culminated in a tough task: taking down the Class A defending champion Lady Cardinals.
It took just one frame for the Lady Cardinals to get a feel for O-E. Although their lead off batter, Marina Hanes, produced a single, the Lady Terrors would send DCC back to the dugout with a strikeout before turning a double play in the air and at second. However, the Lady Cardinals would return the favor on defense, dispatching O-E in just three batters. Then, they would begin to break things open.
Lily Davidson kicked off the second with a single followed by a Lady Terror error that allowed a second runner on base. A third consecutive hit from Lily Sachs which shot past second base would drive in the first run of the day before a double immediately after put the Lady Cardinals up by a pair. DCC would tally one more run before the end of the inning with a sac-fly to the outfield.
Tori Bickford snags a pop fly during O-E’s season-ending loss to the Lady Cardinals. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Looking up at a budding deficit, the Lady Terrors failed to find contact against the Lady Cardinals’ red hot ace Rylee Kulbatsky, going three-and-out once again.
“(Kulbatsky) brought her fastball, she brought her rise ball and then she got ahead of us in the count. Then we went for the high balls that weren’t necessarily in the zone but we went after them anyhow,” said Francis. “That’s what you do as a good pitcher, you get ahead and then you work the zone.”
Although they would return to the plate in short order with two Rayel Hakes strikeouts and a play at first, the Lady Terrors’ still couldn’t put the ball in play. On the other hand, despite suffering three outs in just as many batters in the fourth, the Lady Cardinals would find a revival in the fifth.
Reaching the top of the order after a lead-off K, Hanes made her way to third off a deep shot to right field and mis-handling by O-E. A hit batter would put another Lady Cardinal in the diamond, followed by an eventual steal to second, before a single from Davidson brought two more across home plate with an RBI single . Although they forced two stranded runners, the Lady Terrors’ desperation began to build.
Continuing to stunt O-E, the DCC kept their foot on the Lady Terrors’ neck and went for the kill in the sixth. With one out, a single and double would put the Lady Cardinals in scoring position, setting up Hanes for her third hit of the day as she tallied her first RBI. Despite having two outs, DCC then loaded the bases before scoring three more runs on successive singles.
Despite getting their second hit of the day from Brittany Pierce’s bunt, O-E’s woes were unrelenting and through the final two frames, there would be no comeback. After coming into the playoffs with heads full of steam, the Lady Terrors had finally found their match.
“(Kulbatsky) is a stud pitcher. We as coaches and our administration have to do a little bit with our schedule up north to try to make it as competitive as possible. We’re going to see that once in 20 games, unless we make a deep run into the playoffs,” said Francis. “So we have to do something to make us a little more competitive, whether it’s crossing the border into New York and finding some teams with stronger pitchers that we can work with. We only have six games that we can fiddle with and we have to make them the best six games that they can be.”
O-E’s two hits came from Pierce (1-for-2) and Ayla Van Scoter (1-for-3.) However, a silver lining to the season-ending loss could be found in their sophomore standout, Hakes, who registered her 200th strikeout.
Recording eight strikeouts on Friday, sophomore Rayel Hakes tallied her 200th K against DuBois Central Catholic. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
The Lady Cardinals will now advance to the D9 championship, where they will look to defend their crown against Curwensville. For the Lady Terrors, although they are losing a key player in catcher Carrie Drummond, Francis is confident in and thankful for their returning youth.
“The good thing is, right now I lose one player and I have one that will graduate next year. So I’ve got a run of freshman and sophomores for the next three years,” said Francis. “I think we’ve got a great team and there’s things we can do to improve for next year.”
AT DUBOIS
R H E
DuBois Central Catholic 030 024 0 9 12 0
Otto-Eldred 000 000 0 0 2 1
DCC: Kulbatsky (14 SO, 0 BB) and Myers
O-E: Hakes (8 SO, 2 BB) and Drummond
