State College roars to third straight title

Walt Moody

SPRING MILLS — If not for a mid-season injury to a teammate, Jess Shisler probably wouldn’t have been in the State College lineup for Thursday’s District 6 Class AAAA championship game against Central Mountain.

CDT/Michelle Bixby

State College's Kelsey Graham (11) hugs her teammates after receiving her District 6 AAAA championship medal Thursday, May 21, 2009. State College defeated Central Mountain in a 6-2 win. CDT/Michelle Bixby.

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Lady Raiders recapture softball crown

Certainly, the junior leadoff hitter wouldn’t be someone you’d expect to get the green light with a 3-0 count with two runners in scoring position in a scoreless game.

State College coach Rick Hall flashed the hit sign and Shisler did just that. Shisler’s two-run triple in the second inning got the Lady Little Lions rolling as they clinched their third consecutive district crown with a 6-2 triumph against the Lady Wildcats at Penns Valley High School.

Megan Brown scattered eight hits and wriggled out of several jams as State College (14-6) advanced to next week’s PIAA play-in game against the winner between the District 9 and District 10 champions.

Shisler opened the season backing up senior Kelsey Graham in left field, but when Graham suffered a season-ending injury Shisler inherited the starting spot. Hall moved her into the No. 1 spot in the batting order late in the season.

“One of the things that we always talk to the kids about is, ‘When your time comes, are you going to be ready?,’” Hall said. “I’ve got to give Jess credit. She’s come through and improved game-by-game. When her calling came, she did it.”

Shisler had two hits and scored a run in the Lady Little Lions’ 5-0 win over Hollidaysburg in the District 6 semifinals and had the big hit Thursday.

“I’ve come along pretty well and I’m surprised at myself actually,” Shisler said. “It’s unfortunate that Kelsey got hurt, but I’m glad I got a chance to prove myself.”

With Shelby Kline

and Alexa Becker aboard and in scoring position via walks, Central Mountain starter Taylor Lesser fell behind 3-0 to left-handed Shisler. While most coaches would have flashed a take sign to an inexperienced player, Hall didn’t and was rewarded. Shisler lined the next pitch down the third base line and it scooted all of the way to the fence as Kline and Becker easily scored.

Hall said he has been preaching aggressiveness at the plate and this was part of that lesson. “Looking at the way Jess has been swinging the bat well down the stretch, (Lesser) is at 3-0 and she doesn’t want to (walk) the leadoff hitter and that’s why I didn’t give her the take sign,” he said.

“Boy, did she come through. That was huge it gave us some momentum and some confidence.”

Shisler said she appreciated Hall’s faith in her. “I knew that he’s seen me hit before and he knew I could hit in clutch situations,” she said. “I wasn’t too surprised. We had two on, so I definitely needed to get on base.”

The Lady Little Lions held onto the margin thanks to Brown’s high-wire act. The Lady Wildcats had a baserunners in all but one inning, but somehow Brown managed to get out of trouble.

No inning was more important than the top of the fourth when Central Mountain’s Heidi Shoemaker and Tierra Miller led off with singles. When courtesy runner Kaylin Smith (in for Miller) swiped second base, they Wildcats had runners at second and third with no outs.

Brown (11-3) first got Megan Rupert on a pop-up to short and then blew away Brittany Kunes and Courtney Weaver with a strikeouts on seven total pitches.

“We put runners on,” said Central Mountain coach Dave Peters, whose team outhit State College 8-5. “We just couldn’t seem to come up with the clutch hit or put enough back-to-back.”

The Lady Wildcats also made a baserunning error in the fifth as State College catcher Lindsey Miller cut down a basestealer at third to squelch a rally before the meat of the order came up.

State College took total control in the bottom of the fifth. With Becker (walk) and Anna Juska (single) on second and third, Emilee Eden looped a single to right. Kirsten Glantz followed with an RBI single to right. Eden (wild pitch) and Glantz (passed ball) each scored from third.

“You have to give State College credit,” Peters said. “They took advantage of their opportunities and scored when they had to.”

The Wildcats didn’t make it easy to crown State College, though.

After Shoemaker and Miller singled in the sixth, Kunes cracked a two-run double to left. In the seventh with two more runners on an two outs, Brown again faced Miller, whose home run beat Altoona in the semifinals. Brown threw five straight riseballs and fanned Miller with the last one.

“I struggled,” Brown admitted. “I guess I threw well enough to win. I definitely need to work on some things. I don’t know if it was nerves. I’m not really sure. I scared myself at some points, but I was able to work through it.”

Hall said he had no doubt Brown, who stranded eight baserunners, would survive. “Megan is probably one of the most mentally tough pitchers that I’ve been around,” he said. “That’s to her credit. A kid like that deserves to win games like this.”

Shoemaker led Central Mountain (13-7) with three hits while Miller added two. Lesser struck out six, but three of her five walked batters scored.

“I’ll give my team credit,” Peters said. “They battled and battled.”

The triumph was special for the Lady Little Lions, who’ve spent the regular-season traveling the state in hopes of finding the kind of competition that would prepare them for the postseason.

“It hasn’t happened at State College since 1989 and it’s also the first time since they went to the four classifications that someone has won it three times in a row,” Hall said. “It’s real rewarding to me, the kids, the program and everybody involved in the State College softball program is involved in this.”

Brown, who pitched the Lady Little Lions to a 4-3 win over Central Mountain in last year’s district title game, isn’t ready to quit just yet. “It’s awesome to win three in a row and it’s satisfying, but I still want to keep going,” she said. “I want to go all the way.”