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SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Those bats that have been so vibrant all season abruptly went silent Tuesday.
Sure, Maddy O’Donohue had a triple as part of her two-hit afternoon. And Morgan Briggs whacked a double. Aside from that, Nanticoke couldn’t solve Bethlehem Catholic pitcher Elyse Cuttic.
The hard-throwing lefty struck out 11 and Nanticoke never made amends for a poor first inning as Becahi clinched its second consecutive trip to the PIAA Class 3A softball title game with a 5-0 victory at Blue Mountain High School.
District 11 champion Becahi (18-7) will play D7 third seed Trinity at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Nittany Lion Softball Park at Penn State. D2 champion Nanticoke ended its year at 20-6.
Becahi’s record wasn’t overly impressive, but part of the reason was the absence of Cuttic. She missed the beginning of the season with a nasty sinus infection and then was sidelined again after undergoing an appendectomy.
Tuesday marked the first time she went all seven innings, something coach Rich Mazza was monitoring in the late innings.
“Especially because how hot it was,” Mazza said. “I was worried, really worried. She is a tough girl. We’ve been using a freshman and Elyse said, ‘I want to pitch.’ So I said, ‘I going to go with you.’ She did a great job.”
Nanticoke found itself in a 3-0 hole after the first inning as pitcher Leandra Ramos struggled with her location and walked four. A wild pitch and a fielding error produced the runs for Becahi.
Meanwhile, Cuttic fanned four of the first Trojans she faced before O’Donohue launched a triple over the head of Becahi left fielder Tasha Miner. But another strikeout ended that threat. Same for the third inning when Briggs led off with a double. Cuttic continued her mastery with two more strikeouts.
“It might of because we struck out a lot early,” Nanticoke coach Ryan Stetz said of facing a left-hander. “I thought we put good swings on her. She got both sides of the plate, she got some high calls and she’s a very good pitcher. She deserves everything she gets. I wish them nothing be the best in the state playoffs.”
O’Donohue had the final Nanticoke hit, a two-out single in the seventh. She dug into her softball past to figure out Cuttic.
“I think it was the fact that she was a lefty,” said O’Donohue, the team’s catcher and only senior starter. “I think it screwed a couple people up. One of my best friends when I was little was a lefty pitcher and I caught her all the time. So it’s kind of easy for me to see it.”
Nanticoke had only two runners in scoring position all game. Things became a little worse when Cuttic’s bat caused damage by driving in a run in the fifth. Becahi used a pair of singles and a slow roller off the bat of Courtney Shupp to plated its fifth run in the sixth.
Although the game ended with tears and hugs for Nanticoke, it also ended with hope. Only O’Donohue departs from the starting lineup and her replacement is in tow.
“We’re pretty pumped,” said Lipowski, Nanticoke’s power-hitting sophomore. “I think we’ll have a great season next year because of how great we’ve been playing lately. We’ll have the same girls except for Maddy. We’ll come out and play strong next year.”
PIAA Class 3A Semifinal
Nanticoke`AB`R`H`BI
Roccograndi ss`3`0`0`0
Brown cf`3`0`0`0
Lipowski 3b`3`0`0`0
Bohn dp`3`0`0`0
Novakowski 2b`3`0`0`0
O’Donohue c`3`0`2`0
Tocket 1b`3`0`0`0
Briggs lf`2`0`1`0
Ramos p`1`0`0`0
Murphy rf`0`0`0`0
Totals`24`0`3`0
Becahi`AB`R`H`BI
Indelicotto ss`4`2`2`0
Cotto 2b`3`1`1`0
Miner lf`2`2`1`0
Shupp c`4`0`0`1
Brandstetter 3b`4`0`0`0
Cuttic p`2`0`1`1
Sledz 1b`3`0`2`0
Rau rf`3`0`1`0
Ensley cf`3`0`0`0
Totals`28`5`8`2
Nanticoke`000`000`0`—`0
Bethlehem Cath.`300`011`x`—`5
E – Nanticoke 1. LOB – Nanticoke 4, Becahi 7. 2B – Briggs. 3B – O’Donohue.
Nanticoke`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Ramos (L)`4.2`6`4`2`4`1
Bohn`1.1`2`1`1`1`0
Becahi`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Cuttic (W)`7`3`0`0`1`11