How Bellefonte softball beat Chartiers Valley to advance to the PIAA quarterfinals
Lexi Rogers watched her future college team, James Madison, produce with a win over Oklahoma State on Friday to advance to the College Softball World Series semifinals.
Rogers won a playoff game of her own on Monday afternoon when Bellefonte defeated Chartiers Valley, 4-1, in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A championships. The senior pitcher had strong run support with shortstop Madison Melius blasting a three-run home run in the first inning.
The soon-to-be Duke appreciated her teammates spotting her four runs in the first inning.
“Having the run support from my team really helped calm everything down, not only for me, but everyone took a deep breath,” Rogers said. “We were like, ‘OK, we got this now.’”
Bellefonte second baseman Tori Reichert is often the team’s spark plug. With her speed and aggressive base running, the Raiders are able to put other clubs into jams. That was the case in the first inning as Reichert hit a triple and scored a run off of Roger’s bat. She went 2-for-3 from the plate.
“It was the first pitch and it got my team excited and that really pushed forward and it got me excited,” Reichert said. “So, I think it set the tone. It was just really nice to set the tone.”
Soon after Reichert got things going for the Raiders, Melius drove in courtesy runners Kierra Narehood and Maria Cotter for a three-run home run to give them a 4-0 lead. It was just what the doctor ordered for the shortstop in the five hole.
“I felt really good about my first at-bat because I watched the team play games before and I knew what she pitched,” Melius said. “So, I just kind of went out there and to get ahead right away felt great.”
Rogers only allowed one run after Chartiers Valley first baseman Marie Kinchington started the top of the fourth with a double. Kinchington was replaced by Maria Celmo on the basepaths, who later scored on a double from Zoe Mangan. Rogers finished the game with seven innings pitched and 10 strikeouts.
Reichert felt that it was a continuation of how the team has played throughout the season.
“I think it gives us a sense of energy and confidence,” Reichert said. “We haven’t really lost throughout the season, but it just gives us an overall great look at things and that’s really awesome for all of us.”
Bellefonte coach Travis Foster believed that the team could accomplish more throughout the game. While they started off hot with a four-run first inning, they couldn’t press forward in the remainder of the game.
But Foster said he wasn’t too worried, brushing off the loss of early momentum as uncharacteristic.
“It’s not something that we typically struggle with — I don’t think,” Foster said. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and we’re going to keep preaching energy, keep preaching effort, we’re going to keep talking about being aggressive. We got down 0-1 a lot. If you get down 0-1 against a pitcher like that in the state playoffs, she has a gigantic advantage and we can’t let ourselves play from the hole.”
Class 3A softball: Mount Pleasant 4, Bald Eagle Area 0
Bald Eagle Area fell 4-0 to Mount Pleasant in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A softball championships on Monday at Peterswood Park.
Madison Peters was credited with the loss, allowing six hits and four runs, while striking out three and walking two over six innings. Madison Eckley, Marina Shawley, Katelyn Smithcko and Maegan King each had hits.
The Eagles end their season 17-4.
Class 4A baseball: Eastern York 14, Bellefonte 1
Bellefonte baseball got bounced from the first round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs with a 14-1 loss to Eastern York on Monday in Wingate.
Bellefonte got on the board first, when Zach Swagner scored on a fielding error by the third baseman in the bottom of the second. But Eastern York answered with five runs of its own, ending the top of the third up 5-1.
It was all Eastern York from there.
Braedyn Kormanic led the Raiders from the plate, going 2-2. Seth Shuey and Bobby Marsh each also had hits.
Find Penns Valley softball’s result at CentreDaily.com.
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 5:41 PM.
