HUNTINGDON — After losing two close games to Huntingdon, the Philipsburg-Osceola softball team finally got the best of the Lady Bearcats when it mattered most.

The ninth-seeded Lady Mounties toppled eighth-seeded Huntingdon 7-1 on Thursday in the first round of the District 6 2A playoffs.

The Lady Bearcats topped P-O 1-0 on May 8, following a 2-0 win over the Lady Mounties on March 18.

But Philipsburg-Osceola didn’t give the hosts much of a chance, scoring five runs in the second inning, then getting a gusty performance from Alivia Bizzarri in the circle to close it out.

The top of the second started with an out, as Adi Jarrett popped up to second.

Morgan Vaughn and Macie Bush hit back-to-back singles before McKenna Thorp put down a sacrifice bunt to move them to second and third.

Ashlynn Havens went down in the count 0-2, but rallied back to take the sixth pitch she saw into center field, scoring both Vaughn and Bush.

Havens came home on an RBI double from Emily Gustkey to make it 3-0.

Bizzarri then took the first pitch she saw from Huntingdon starter Alivia Nicklow and blasted it over the fence, increasing the visitors lead to 5-0.

Nicklow finally got out of the inning with a strikeout, but the damage had been done.

Bizzarri sat the Lady Bearcats down in order in the bottom of the second.

P-O’s Camryn Chverchko singled to lead off the top of the third, before being bunted over to second by Jarrett.

Chverchko then moved to third on a wild pitch.

She tried coming home on a single into center by Vaughn, but was thrown out at the plate by Huntingdon outfielder Raelynn Fisher.

Nicklow got Macie Bush to fly out to right to end the inning.

Huntingdon got on the board in the bottom of the third, thanks to an error.

Alexa Beyer and Fisher had back-to-back singles to open up the frame, before Bizzarri struck out the next batter.

Charlotte Kyle singled into right, allowing Beyer to get to third. She came home on an error on the same play to trim the score to 5-1.

Bizzarri buckled down and got a strikeout and a lineout to second to end the frame and leave runners stranded on second and third.

Philipsburg-Osceola got the run back and added an insurance run in the top of the fourth.

Havens reached on a one-out error and stole second before Gustkey drew a walk.

The Lady Mounties put on the double steal, putting runners at second and third for Bizzarri.

She singled into left, bringing home Havens to make it 6-1.

Mia Butler put down a squeeze bunt, allowing Gustkey to come home and put the lead at 7-1.

Huntingdon left the bases loaded in both the fourth and sixth inning, but Bizzarri worked out of both jams.

In the sixth, the Lady Bearcats reached on an error, a single and a hit by pitch.

Bizzarri then struck out the next two batters swinging before getting another to pop out in foul territory to Chverchko to end the threat.

The Lady Mounties also loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, but failed to push a run across.

Bizarri struck out three of the four batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh, allowing a single to Alivia Edwards with one out.

She finished the game with 12 strikeouts. The Lady Mountie hurler allowed eight hits on the day, with just one run and one walk to her credit.

She also led the team in RBIs with three on two hits. Havens had two RBIs, two hits and two runs scored.

Gustkey knocked in one run, had two doubles and scored twice.

Vaughn added two hits.

Philipsburg-Osceola improved to 12-6 overall. The Lady Mounties face top-seeded Forest Hills in the quarterfinals on Monday.

Huntingdon finished the season at 12-8.

Philipsburg-Osceola—7

Gustkey c 2221, Bizzarri p 3123, Butler 1b 3001, Chverchko ss 4010, Jarrett lf 3010, Vaughn 2b 4120, Bush cf 4110, Thorp rf 1000, Hampton rf 2000, Havens 3b 3222. Totals: 29-7-11-7.

Huntingdon—1

Royer 2b 4000, Kyle lf 4020, Foster ss 4010, Kazmarski c 3010, Sheffield ph 1000, Edwards rf 3010, Nicklow p 3000, Stratton dp 4000, Beyer 3b 3020, Fisher cf 1110. Totals: 31-1-8-0.

Score by Innings

P-O 050 200 0—7 11 3

Huntingdon 001 000 0—1 8 1

Errors—Thorp, Hampton, Havens. Beyer. 2B—Gustkey 2, HR—Bizzarri. HBP—Gustkey. Fisher 2. SB—Hampton, Havens 2, Gustkey.

Pitching

Philipsburg-Osceola: Bizzarri—7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO.

Huntingdon: Nicklow—7 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO.

WP—Bizzarri. LP—Nicklow.