PALMERTON — The Brockway Senior League All-Star softball team earned a trip to states as the lone representative in both District 10 and Section 1, but the squad showed they more belonged as they took home second-place honors Tuesday at the Pennsylvania State Tournament.
Brockway went 4-2 at the tourney in Palmerton, with both losses coming to state champion Stroudburg.
The teams played three times in the tournament, with defending state champ Stroudsburg winning two of three to capture another title.
Stroudsburg pulled out a hard fought 8-7 walk-off victory in the first meeting in the winner’s bracket final on Sunday.
Brockway led that contest 7-4 entering the bottom of the seventh. However, Stroudsburg rallied with a big four-run inning, scoring the winning run on a two-out error to reach the state championship game and send Brockway to the loser’s bracket.
Brockway bounced back in a big way, capturing a wild 16-12 victory against Coventry in the loser’s bracket final late Monday night in a game that actually ended at 12:57 a.m. Tuesday morning.
That win earned Brockway a rematch with Stroudsburg for the state title on Tuesday, and the District 10 champions then knocked off Stroudsburg, 10-3, to force the if-necessary title game.
Unfortunately for Brockway, Stroudsburg regrouped and came away with a 9-3 win in the winner-take-all championship game to capture the title and earn a trip to the East Region Tournament in Worcester, Mass.
Brockway’s win in the first title game Tuesday was fueled by the duo of Sierra Fremer and Ella Reitz, both of whom went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Fremer scored four times out of the leadoff spot.
The District 10 champs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first in that contest, getting two-out RBI singles from Bella Patton and Jade Whitehill. Fremer scored the first of those runs after leading off the game with a hit, while Patton came home on Whitehill’s single to make it 2-0.
Stroudsburg got a run back in the second, but Brockway still led 2-1 after four innings. However, Brockway broke the game wide open late, scoring two runs in both the fifth and sixth and four more in the seventh to win the game going away, 10-3.
Brockway put its first two hitters on in the fifth, as Fremer drew a leadoff walk and Jenna Glasl singled. Makayla Town then bunted over the runners before Patton lined out. Reitz then came through with a clutch two-out, two-run single to center to plate both runners for a 4-1 advantage.
Brockway tacked on two more runs in the sixth.
Bailee Carberry got things started with a walk with one out before her team loaded the bases with two outs on a Fremer single and Glasl hit by pitch. Town was then hit by a pitch herself, forcing home Carberry, then Patton reached on a dropped third strike that allowed Fremer to score.
Brockway put the game away with four more runs in the seventh, as Fremer singled home a pair of runs before scoring on an errant throw while taking third on a wild pitch. Town then plated Glasl, who walked, on a safety squeeze to make it 10-2.
Stroudsburg got one final run in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Brockway came away with the 10-3 victory.
Carberry got the win in the circle, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits. She struck out 10 and walked just two.
Any momentum Brockway built with the win was quickly taken away in the if-necessary game as this time Stroudsburg grabbed a 2-0 lead after one inning.
Brockway got a run back in the second when Ava Daugherty singled home Patton with two outs to make it 2-1. Patton had led off the inning with a walk.
The teams traded runs in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth before Stroudsburg seized control with a four-run bottom of the fourth. Brockway never recovered from that big half-inning, as Stroudsburg went on to win 9-3 to capture the title.
Brockway had just three hits in the game after collecting 10 in the opener — although against different pitchers.
Brockway opened states with a 16-0, 4-inning victory against Southern Tioga on Saturday — a game in which Carberry tossed a two-hit shutout featuring nine strikeouts and no walks.
The District 10 champs broke the game wide open with a 10-run top of the first and never looked back.
Glasl led the Brockway attack, going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and three runs scored. Carberry was 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
Brockway followed that up with an 8-1 triumph against Coventry on Sunday to reach the winner’s bracket final.
The team broke up a scoreless game in that one with a four-run top of the third before scoring twice in the fifth and seventh innings.
Reitz led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Fremer, Glasl and Whitehill all added two hits in the win, with Glasl having a double and two RBIs.
Carberry collected the win, going the distance again. She allowed one run (earned) on two hits while striking out 14 and walking three.
That victory set up the first meeting against Stroudsburg Sunday night, and Brockway got off to a strong start as it built a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Brockway pushed the lead to 7-2 after the top of the sixth, but Stroudsburg rallied to hand the D-10 champs a heartbreaking loss after scoring twice in the sixth and four more times in the seventh.
Patton had the big offensive game this time around. She went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Fremer and Reitz each added a pair of hits.
The setback dropped Brockway into the loser’s bracket where it pulled out the wild 16-12 victory against Coventry past midnight Monday into Tuesday.
The game was all about the offenses, as the teams combined for six different half innings of three or more runs.
Both squads plated five runs in the first, with Brockway scoring three more in the second and four in the fourth. Coventry countered with one in the third and five in the fourth as Brockway led 12-11 at that point.
Brockway responded with three more runs in the fifth to grab control of the game on its way to the 16-12 victory to reach championship day against Stroudsburg.