Claysburg-Kimmel answers Meyersdale's quick start in PIAA Class 1A softball contest

CLAYSBURG, Pa. – A fast start on the road gave the Meyersdale Area softball team an opportunity to put a lopsided loss to fellow Inter-County Conference member Claysburg-Kimmel behind the Red Raiders.

However, Claysburg-Kimmel freshman Aleah Rightenour blasted a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom half of the first inning.

Two critical Meyersdale errors late in the game allowed the Bulldogs to pull away during Monday's PIAA Class 1A first-round contest at Claysburg-Kimmel Junior-Senior High School with a 9-4 triumph.

Four-time defending District 6 champion Claysburg-Kimmel (20-4) will play Holy Cross, a 9-1 winner over Montgomery, Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Despite losing to Claysburg-Kimmel 19-4 in five innings March 30, the Red Raiders were more competitive during Monday's game.

"We've had kind of an up and down season," said Meyersdale coach Jessica Deakins, who announced she will retire after serving as head coach from 1992-96, 2014-17 and this season with a 151-39 record. "We have a group of girls who kind of play high on emotion instead of sometimes thinking through what they should do, but watching them grow and develop all season, and become more mature and under control of themselves, I think it showed here today. I think that they're growing in confidence. We have one starting senior (Kendell Donaldson). I have huge expectations for what the future will hold for them."

Each team finished with eight hits. McKenna Black led Claysburg-Kimmel with two.

Sophomore Keira Eberly led the Red Raiders with three doubles and three RBIs. Eberly gave Meyersdale a 1-0 lead in the first with a laser off the top of the left-field fence for an RBI double. However, Claysburg-Kimmel sophomore Isabella Paris escaped further damage with two strikeouts. The right-hander finished with seven punchouts.

Eberly fired first-pitch strikes to each of the five batters she faced to begin the game. With two runners on, Rightenour blasted the first pitch she saw over the center-field fence for a 3-1 lead.

"We started off with a bang and sort of held on there for a few innings," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Barbarini said. "Then we added on a few times, which we needed to. One through nine have all contributed at times in big games. We don't have a weak hitter in our lineup."

The 3-1 score held until the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Claysburg-Kimmel's Savanna Crissman doubled to left. A throw to first base sailed high as Crissman raced around to score. Paris followed with an RBI single to center as Claysburg-Kimmel led 5-1.

"I think that we had a lot of focus," Deakins said. "I think that our pitcher wasn't rattled until they started to, after that error, put some people on and make some good contact. You can't put your pitcher in that situation late in the game when she's seeing good batters three, four times. Their lineup is stout, and we knew that. We have a great deal of respect for them."

Meyersdale, which went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, scored on a throwing error when Eberly, after doubling, bolted for third base on a ground ball to shortstop and the first baseman's throw over to third was off the mark.

The dam broke in the sixth for Meyersdale. A Claysburg-Kimmel sacrifice bunt moved two runners into scoring position. Payton Hinish drove in a runner with a single to right. No. 9 hitter Zailee Bush drove a 1-1 pitch into the left-center gap for an 8-2 advantage. A throwing error with two outs allowed Bush to score.

Eberly threw 59 of her 97 pitches for strikes, fanning four batters on her changeup.

Paris finished with 76 strikes during her 110-pitch outing.

In the seventh, Meyersdale senior Graci Reese singled in her final at-bat. Eberly dropped in a two-run double to left-center field with two outs to set the final.

Despite a slow start to the season, Meyersdale rebounded and advanced to the PIAA tournament for the fifth time in six seasons.

"We had a very front-heavy schedule," Deakins said. "We came out of the gates playing Everett, Forest Hills, Claysburg-Kimmel, we had back to-back games with Berlin (Brothersvalley). We were 3-5 very early and I think for young players, it could have been very easy for them just to be like, 'We're just going to go for ice cream and enjoy the season.' They didn't. They dug in and came to work every single day. I think it showed."

Claysburg-Kimmel had to avoid overconfidence entering Monday's game.

"Us losing Mount Union 1-0 after beating them 18-1 sort of put a fear in the girls, saying we have to come out here and continue to score runs," Barbarini said.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 8:05 AM.