LEHMAN TWP. — After days of waiting, Holy Redeemer finally found the window to get their Class 2A district semifinal game played on Saturday afternoon.
The Royals didn’t waste time, rolling in a business-like effort to land themselves back in the district championship.
Anne Carter allowed just one hit and struck out nine over six innings, and the Royals offense produced from top to bottom in a 10-0 victory over Dunmore in six innings at Lake-Lehman High School.
The contest was initially set for Wednesday, but moved to Thursday and then Friday as a result of rainy weather.
Moved to the turf of Lake-Lehman on Friday, the two teams made it through one half-inning before more rain brought things to a halt, leading to the game being picked up from the bottom of the first on Saturday.
“We know what we have to do, we have to win the game to move on to the next one,” Holy Redeemer coach Jerry Paulukonis said. “To the team, it doesn’t really matter where we’re playing.”
There certainly weren’t any signs of weariness on the part of the Royals, who scored in five of their six turns at bat and played a flawless defense behind Carter on the mound.
Redeemer took a quick 1-0 lead on an Abby Williams double in the first inning, and broke the game open with four runs in the second.
Grace Stetz-Madden drove in the first of those four runs with an RBI single, scoring Lauren Hayden. After Mary Lombardi reached on an infield single, the stage was set for the biggest at-bat of the inning.
Zoe Pecuch launched a fly ball deep into the left-center gap that got caught up in a nasty gust of wind, throwing off the Dunmore outfielders as they tried to track the ball down.
Stetz-Madden and Lombardi scored easily, and after Dunmore had some trouble getting the ball back in, Pecuch followed along to score herself and make it a 4-0 Royals lead.
“It was iffy, but I was hoping for it,” Pecuch said when asked about whether or not she was anticipating being waved around to score. “It was still in the early part of the game so I was just hoping to get the run for my team.”
The Royals continued to tack on, adding two more runs in each of the next two innings, all while Carter was cruising on the hill.
The senior hurler only allowed one runner to reach second base, and alternated between racking up strikeouts and inducing soft contact for her defense to clean up behind her.
“I think we’re peaking at the right moment and its boosting everyone’s confidence,” Carter said. “I have a lot of trust in my teammates, I feel like I could still miss a spot and they’ll have my back in the field.”
Just as she drove in the first run of the game, it was Williams ending things with a double into the gap in the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing in Redeemer’s 10th run and activating the mercy rule.
Holy Redeemer will head to Marywood University for the District 2 Class 2A championship game, taking on either Elk Lake or Montrose at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
District 2 Class 2A Semifinals
Holy Redeemer 10, Dunmore 0 (6 inn.)
Dunmore`AB`R`H`BI
Brown c`3`0`0`0
McGowan ss`2`0`0`0
Walsh 3b`2`0`0`0
Ancherani p`2`0`0`0
Pasko 1b`2`0`0`0
Riley lf`2`0`0`0
Farr cf`2`0`0`0
Borell dp`1`0`0`0
Day 2b`0`0`0`0
DePrimo rf`1`0`0`0
Cantarella ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`18`0`1`0
Holy Redeemer`AB`R`H`BI
Lombardi lf`2`3`1`0
Pecuch 1b`4`2`1`2
Genovese c`3`0`0`0
Pius pr`0`0`0`0
Williams ss`3`1`2`2
Boylan cf`2`0`1`1
Grandzol ph`1`1`o`o
A. Carter p`3`0`1`0
C. Carter pr`0`0`0`0
Hayden rf`3`1`1`1
Brill dp`3`0`0`0
Stetz-Madden 3b`3`1`2`1
Totals`24`10`9`7
Dunmore`000`000 — 0
Redeemer`142`201 — 10
2B — Williams 2, Stetz-Madden, Boylan. 3B — Pecuch.
Dunmore`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Ancherani (L)`5.2`9`10`6`4`4
Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Carter (W)`6`1`0`0`2`9
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