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ALLENTOWN — One early smash off Jess Parente’s bat and a later fly ball that settled gently into Annie Karcutskie’s glove were the two biggest signs.
Wyoming Area made it clear Monday afternoon.
Bangor’s latest victory, playing close to home in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A softball playoffs, was not going to be easy.
The Colonial League and District 11 champion Slaters needed to dig out of an early, four-run hole and did not break away until the bottom of the sixth inning for their 21st straight victory, 9-4, over the Warriors at Patriots Park.
Parente and Karcutskie led the way both offensively and defensively for Wyoming Area, which jumped in front in the top of the first, held the lead until the bottom of the fourth and was within a run until Bangor scored four runs with two out in the sixth.
An offense that averaged 10-plus runs, and had scored in double figures in five of the previous eight games, brought Bangor back.
“We knew they were a good hitting team coming into the game,” said Parente, a junior catcher. “We knew they were a talented team and we had to bring our ‘A’ game.
“We tired our hardest, but it didn’t go as planned.”
The early stages went as well as possible.
Parente, the third batter of the game, launched a home run over the fence in the left field for a 3-0 lead before Bangor recorded an out. It was the first time, on any level, that she homered in a game.
“I got a nice pitch inside and turned on it,” Parente said. “I had no clue, I was rounding second base and it was like, ‘wait, it’s gone?’”
Karcutskie kept the Bangor lead at 5-4 through the fourth and fifth innings with the defensive play of the game.
Penn State recruit Dani Fey, who came in with a .662 batting average, 22 extra-base hits and 45 RBI, ripped a high shot to deep right field with two runners in scoring position and two out in the fourth. Karcutskie, playing shallow, got back in a hurry and made an overhead, backhand catch on almost a dead run as she approached the fence, saving at least two runs.
Neither stopped there.
Parente kept the lead at 4-1 after one inning by gunning down Fey trying to steal second. She led off the fifth with a single and gave the Warriors their last sense of hope in the top of the seventh.
After Bri Pizzano started the inning with a single, Parente sent a low liner to right field that most Wyoming Area fans thought was trapped by Bangor’s Hannah England. It was ruled a catch and two pitches later, the game was over.
Karcutskie went 2 for 3 and singled in the last Wyoming Area run in the four-run first.
Bangor used multiple runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to overcome the big Wyoming Area start.
“We were well aware of their offense,” Wyoming Area coach John McNeil said. “We knew that they were offensively potent. Our objective was to control their offense with a pitch selection, which worked well for the first few innings.
“I give all the credit to Bangor. They adjusted to our pitch selection.”
Bangor battled back behind Ciarrah Holmqvist, Kaitlyn Caleen and Dani Hess. Holmqvist drove in the first run in the first inning and the game winner on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Caleen drove in four runs with a pair of two-run singles, cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the third and stretching the lead to 7-4 in the sixth.
Hess took over as pitcher immediately after Parente’s homer and worked through seven innings, allowing just one run. She also had hits and scored in her first two at-bats, coming across with the winning run in the fourth.
“It’s nice to know my teammates have my back and in the next inning, we can get the bats started and get some runs,” Hess said.
Wyoming Area could not score after the first inning, although it did threaten.
The Warriors had runners on in the last six innings, getting someone into scoring position in half those innings.
The state playoff appearance was the first in 36 years by Wyoming Area, which was 3-6 midway through the season with an all-underclassmen lineup.
“We had a great season,” McNeil said. “We matured. We lose no one. We look forward to having a real good 2018 season.”
For other high school softball stories, click here.
Bangor 9, Wyoming Area 4
Wyoming Area`AB`R`H`BI
Glatz ss-p`4`1`1`0
Pizzano 2b-ss`4`1`1`0
Parente c`4`1`2`3
Skok 3b`4`0`1`0
Melberger 1b-2b`2`0`1`0
Graham p-1b`3`1`0`0
Karcutskie rf`3`0`2`0
Kopetchny lf`3`0`0`0
Silinskie cf`3`0`0`0
Totals`30`4`8`3
Bangor`AB`R`H`BI
NKessler lf`2`2`2`1
LKessler 2b`1`1`1`0
Holmqvist cf`2`1`1`2
Fey 1b`2`1`0`0
Caleen c`4`1`2`4
JHess ss`4`0`1`2
England rf`3`1`1`0
Groller 3b`3`0`0`0
Hess dp-p`3`2`2`0
Gannon flx-p`0`0`0`0
Totals`24`9`10`9
Wyoming Area`400`000`0`—`4
Bangor`102`204`x`—`9
Wyoming Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Graham (L)`3.1`6`5`5`4`1
Glatz`2.2`4`4`4`2`0
Valley View`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Gannon`0`1`3`1`2`4
DHess (L)`7`7`1`0`2`1